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Smoking Cessation is a Family Affair

Duke's wellness program helps spouses and dependents kick tobacco habit

Krista Staten, left, with daughter Bailee and husband Mosic, who used LIVE FOR LIFE services to kick the tobacco habit. Photo courtesy of Krista Staten.
Krista Staten, left, with daughter Bailee and husband Mosic, who used LIVE FOR LIFE services to kick the tobacco habit. Photo courtesy of Krista Staten.

When Mosic Staten learned he was a father-to-be, he promised to quit smoking for the baby.

He tried quitting cold turkey twice, but willpower wasn't enough to kick a 19-year, $25-a-week Black & Mild mini cigar habit. As his wife's pregnancy advanced, he turned to LIVE FOR LIFE, Duke's wellness program, for help.

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"I told him I wanted him to get help quitting so he could be around longer for me and the baby," said his wife, Krista Staten, a service access manager at Duke's Patient Revenue Management Organization.

As the spouse of a Duke employee covered by a Duke health insurance plan, Mosic was eligible for a free smoking cessation support program. The program offers twelve months of support, along with discounts on over-the-counter nicotine gum and patches and prescriptions for Chantix, a medication that helps reduce the urge to smoke. Last year, LIVE FOR LIFE worked with 594 individuals; about 50 were spouses or adult dependents of employees.

"Smoking is unhealthy for everyone in a household, so it makes sense to provide the same smoking cessation services we offer to employees to adult members of their households," said Diane Dunder, LIVE FOR LIFE's tobacco cessation support specialist. 

After his first consultation with LIVE FOR LIFE in 2009, Staten tried weaning himself with nicotine gum. It made him gag, so he stopped using the gum and kept smoking.  By the time his daughter Bailee was born in 2010, Staten was back to smoking six to eight mini cigars each day. A forklift driver, he enjoyed his first cigar with a cup of coffee in his truck in the morning. He also took smoking breaks with friends at work and enjoyed a smoke at the end of the day as he relaxed watching TV.

His wife protected their daughter by not allowing smoking in the house. When Staten entered the house with the smell of smoke hovering around him, she insisted he change his shirt, brush his teeth and wash his hands before holding the baby.

"I got tired of that, so I went back to LIVE FOR LIFE," Staten said.

This time he tried a course of the tobacco cessation medication Chantix. In May 2012, within three weeks of starting the medication, he smoked his last cigar. His  daughter was 19 months old. Staten and his wife now use the $25 he saves each week for healthy activities like bowling at the AMF Lanes in Durham each week.

Staten still occasionally has the urge to feel a cigar between his fingers but said the support from his wife, co-workers and LIVE FOR LIFE have kept him smoke-free for more than a year. Each day when he picks up Bailee from daycare and swings her into the air for a hug, he's reminded of why he quit.

"I need every breath I can get to keep up with my little baby," he said.