Quit Now NC! aims to help employers identify tools and resources, and develop policies that create healthy environments for their employees in all workplaces, and patients in healthcare settings. Businesses that invest in prevention see improved health of their employees and health care savings. Investing in prevention makes good business sense.

Tobacco-related illness, obesity, poor nutrition, and physical inactivity cost North Carolina employers an average of $5,000 per employee. These issues lead to chronic disease, resulting in absenteeism and decreased productivity, and escalating healthcare costs for employers and employees.

One way to encourage people to quit using tobacco is to make worksites tobacco-free campus wide. When such policies are implemented, employees need to be supported with resources and benefits such as access to counselors and appropriate quitting medications. Counselors and programs are listed in the NC Good Health Directory and tobacco quitting experts are available through the NC quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) every day from 8:00 a.m. to midnight. Medications, such as nicotine replacement therapies, should be offered at no-cost or low cost. People who get counseling and medications can double their chances of successfully quitting. The Prevention 1st Challenge and the Healthy Hospital Initiative websites contain helpful tools to help your worksite become tobacco-free.

• Buying Prevention Benefits
• Worksites
• Schools
• Hospitals
• Costs of Tobacco
• QNNC! Cessation Policies and Help to become tobacco-free

Buying Prevention Benefits

• Healthy Employees Create Healthy Businesses is a tool for making an investment in both the health of your employees and in healthcare savings. The guide will help employers identify current and future health costs and provides tools that assist in purchasing benefits tailored to the health needs of employees in North Carolina.
• The Preventive Benefits Profile provides Information on NC health insurance benefits for quitting tobacco.

Worksites

• The Working Smoke-Free website provides information to help employers and employees make their worksites tobacco-free. Information is available to aid in making and implementing a tobacco-free workplace policy. You'll find health and financial reasons to become a tobacco-free workplace, resources you'll need to develop and implement a tobacco-free policy, and success stories from NC businesses that have already made the switch to a tobacco-free workplace.

Schools

• Map of NC School Districts that areTobacco-Free
• Click here for information about efforts to enable NC school districts to go tobacco-free and everything you need to know to help your school district do so.
• Tackle Smoking Project

Costs of Tobacco

• Graphic showing the cost of tobacco, overweight and obesity, and inactivity
• County and State Contribution for Medicaid (Download Excel Spreadsheet 2002 Data ) with smoking related illnesses responsible for appoximately 13-15% of Medicaid costs, which does not include secondhand smoke effects.

QNNC! Cessation Policies and Help becoming Tobacco-free

• MedCost Tobacco-Free Workplace policy
• Make your workplace smoke-free: A decision makers guide from CDC (pdf )
• Healthy Employees Create Healthy Businesses will help employers identify current and future health costs and provides tools that assist in purchasing benefits tailored to the health needs of employees in North Carolina.
• Make it your business: Insure a tobacco-free workforce an employers toolkit
• The Preventive Benefits Profile provides Information on NC health insurance benefits for tobacco, nutrition, physical activity, diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension, obesity and cancer.

Fliers for the Office

• Resource Flyer - a printable handout displaying quitline numbers and websites
• Medicine choices to double my chances of quitting
• Improve your health quitting (English / Spanish )
• Money you save by quitting (English / Spanish )
• Consumer quitline Flier 1 (why to call and services offered)