Implementing Cessation

Cessation is the stopping of use of tobacco products, including cigarettes, either for good or for some period of time. Cessation approaches can include community education, media campaigns, tobacco cessation classes or programs, smoke-free policies, Quitlines, provider intervention, acupuncture, and many more. Before implementing a cessation approach, it is important to determine your community's stage of readiness. A good way to start is by conducting a community assessment to determine the strengths and limitations of your community and set goals accordingly. The results from your community assessment may also reveal where resources are present, where they are lacking, and what type of cessation approach to decide. You may need to modify your approach to be more culturally appropriate as well. Once you have established the most suitable cessation method to implement (based on your assessment), you are now ready to put your plan into action. Frequent program evaluation is essential to ensuring that your cessation program or policy is meeting its original goals.