Quit Today is a six-step online tobacco cessation programme that guides users through the often difficult process of giving up tobacco. Offering personalised advice and support, it empowers the individual to stub out their last cigarette, or throw away the can of dip and never look back.

Quit Today is an interactive and engaging programme offering a step-by-step approach, helping users reach their goal of being tobacco free. There are two phases to the programme: "Preparing to Quit" and "Ready to Quit" and all steps are personal and tailored directly to the individual. Over the six steps the user looks at reasons for using tobacco, barriers to quitting, setting goals and dealing with triggers through to health issues, coping with slip-ups, keeping on track and preparing for the future.

The pre-programme questionnaire helps assess beliefs and behaviour, motivation to change, health, lifestyle triggers, and coping strategies around tobacco use. The results from this are reflected back to the user throughout the programme, allowing them to examine their progress. The user has the added ability of setting their own quit date, making the goal more achievable and suitable to the individual.

The programme also boasts a range of supporting material and interactive tools including:

• Tobacco tracker to monitor the level of tobacco use throughout the programme
• Knowledge-based downloadable PDFs
• Interactive diary tool, complete with exercises, statistics, daily diary and trigger plan
• Cost savings calculator to see the financial benefits of quitting tobacco
• Quizzes and polls for added support and increased engagement

• Productivity losses caused by smoking related sickness absence and cigarette breaks cost UK employers £2.1 billion a year.¹
• Online quit tobacco programmes can prove effective in promoting cessation and preventing relapses in a workplace setting.²
• People who use tobacco are prone to a range of health issues and whilst 70% of smokers say they would like to quit, it can be difficult to kick the habit and give up for good.³
• Employees who take four 10-minute smoke breaks a day actually work one month less per year than workers who don't take smoking breaks.⁴
• Tobacco use remains the single leading, preventable cause of premature illnesses and death, with around 114,000 deaths in the UK each year.⁵

Sources

1. A McGuire, Raikou & Jofre-Bonet "An Economic Analysis of the Cost of Employee Smoking borne by Employer" Available at: http://www.freshne.com/content/editor/File/Bottom%20Line%20final%20report.pdf. Accessed 1 Februaryy
2. Ash, Smoking statistics August 2008. Accessed 8 August 2008
3. Graham, A.L. et al. Effectiveness of an Internet-Based Smoking Cessation Intervention at 12 Months. Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine. 2007. 49(8):821-828.
4. Americans for NonSmokers' Rights. Business costs in smoke-filled environments. Available at: http://no-smoke.org/document.php?id=209. Accessed November 15 2007.
5. Smokefree England, NHS. Accessed 21 June 2007.