Everyone has a bad habit. But if yours is smoking and you've quit, or are thinking about quitting, Vancouver Coastal Health has just the thing for you.
It's running a Smoking Cessation Program at Coast Garibaldi Health.
It's geared towards smokers in any stage, said Karla MacDonald, the public health nurse and tobacco reduction coordinator.
The program focuses on a step-by-step process of quitting smoking. It provides the tools needed to quit, like learning to replace the habit with something new, and changing behaviour patterns.
MacDonald said the program looks at the person's habit as a whole.
One of the things the program deals with is how to find new ways to relieve stress, rather than lighting up.
MacDonald said group programs with a focus on behaviour counselling have the highest success rate for getting people to quit.
According to Coast Garibaldi Health, behavioural counselling has a success rate of 24 per cent, while smokers going cold turkey only have a three per cent success rate.
But even if the course doesn't help you quit, there is always next time.
"A lot of people give up," MacDonald said.
Most smokers will require five to seven serious attempts before they will be able to successfully quit for life, according to Coast Garibaldi Health.
"It's something that most people struggle with and it does take a number of times to do that," MacDonald said. "It's not a personal failure."
She said behavioural counselling is a good place to start for first-time quitters because it improves their chances of being able to stop smoking.
MacDonald works to stop people from smoking in the first place through prevention, but this program is about preventing death and disability to people who are already smokers.
"What prevention looks like is saving lives," MacDonald said. "It will add to quality of life for these people."
She said the sooner smokers quit and have healthier lifestyles, the longer their life and productivity would be.
There are no statistics available for the number of smokers in Squamish because the North Shore and Coast Garibaldi Health have combined statistics.
"It's hard to get those numbers," she said. "We don't really get an actual reading. We know where we sort of fall.
"Rural areas tend to be a bit higher."
MacDonald said provincially around one in six people or around 16 per cent of British Columbians are smokers. B.C. is lower than the national average of 21.5 per cent.
The five week Smoking Cessation Program is being offered free of charge to smokers in the Sea to Sky Corridor.
All the meetings take place on Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the Squamish Community Health Building at 1140 Hunter Place. To register call 604-892-2293.
