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December 12, 2018

Ash Kickers Program Debuts in Partnership with Breathe California

Mission Neighborhood Health Center has joined with Breathe California of the Bay Area to help MNHC patients reduce and in some cases, quit smoking. “Ash Kickers”, part of Breathe California’s Tobacco Education and Empowerment Program is a free comprehensive program for adults that facilitates group support and incorporates a step-by-step approach to focusing on the benefits of quitting, creating a plan to quit and providing resources to quit.

MNHC outreach coordinator, Carlos E. Minaya, MPH, works closely with the staff from Breathe to provide a structured environment designed to help patients.  Although there is a recommended curriculum for embarking on quitting, the members of the group together set the structure and the pace leading up to their “quit date”.   The classes are held weekly for six weeks for 1½ hours.  Four patients participated in the first session with the hopes that more participate in the future.  The goal is to offer 4 sessions per year with 10-15 participants per session.

The curriculum includes the following:

• Introduction: Thinking About Smoking, Building On Our Past Smoking Experiences
• Understanding Patterns, Tackling the Three Parts (Physical, Psychological, Habits) of Breaking Free
• Planning Ahead, About Quit Smoking Medications, Planning Rewards
• Taking Action:  Nicotine Patches, Quit Kits, Quit Calendars
• Rallying with Each Other, Troubleshooting, Savoring Our Gains
• Keeping Cigarette-Free through Nutrition, Planning to Prevent Urges
• Keeping Cigarette-Free through Physical Activity, Final Planning for the Future, Celebration​

“We are excited to offer this preventive care program to our patients,” said Carlos.  “It not only provides a structure for quitting it also provides critical support with others who are experiencing the same health issues.”

In addition to class support, the program staff coordinates with the patient’s primary care provider to secure nicotine patches and other medications to facilitate quitting.

Participants are incentivized to quit.  If they stay in the program through it’s completion they are given a gift card at the end of the program.

The staff is collecting metrics to evaluate the program’s success that includes the number of participants, how many attend their sessions and how many return for another program.

“Ultimately, we hope to be successful the first time through for these patients,” said Carlos.  “But we are realistic, and for those patients who need more time to quit we will be here for them.”

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