Community feature: Quit and Stay Quit Monday

Quit and Stay Quit Monday is an initiative by the Monday Campaigns to help smokers quit smoking. Peggy Neu, President of The Monday Campaigns, calls Quit and Stay Quit Monday one of the most powerful ways to use Mondays as a day to reflect and commit to behavior change goals.

Smoking is the largest preventable cause of death in the United States and worldwide. According to Joanna Cohen, Director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, over two-thirds of smokers want to quit, and almost half of them attempt quitting. However, the relapse rate is high among smokers, and lots of multiple attempts are often necessary once a person decides to quit smoking.

This is where the idea behind Quit and Stay Quit Monday becomes useful: every Monday, participants commit to not smoking for an entire week. If participants “stayed quit” for a week, then the following Monday gives them a chance to celebrate and recommit again. If they committed last Monday but fell off the wagon, they have another opportunity to commit on the following Monday and learn from the previous week. By receiving reminders and updates, participants are supported throughout the processes and have continuous access to tools to help them achieve their goal.

Quit and Stay Quit Monday resources are aimed toward smokers, and are also valuable tools for tobacco cessation professionals to use in their programs. Various partners (e.g., national organizations, public health departments, health clinics, and universities) use promotional materials to get smokers engaged, tie the ideas behind Quit and Stay Quit Monday into existing programs, and bring awareness to the campaign through social media.

^{Sourced with permission: The Monday Campaigns}

In a study by De Leon, et. al. [1], on the effectiveness of Quit and Stay Quit Monday, researchers found that those who participated in the program reported more confidence in their ability to quit smoking as opposed to those who did not participate. This is a very important first step, and a very important outcome.

Discussion

As you watch, consider the following, post your response below, and reply to comments of other learners:

Are there other behaviors that have high relapse rates, similar to smoking cessation?

How can the tobacco policies described by Dr. Cohen be applied in other settings?

References

[1] De Leon, El, Crossnohere, N. L., Fuentes, L. W., Johnson, M, Welding, K. & Cohen, J. E. (2018). ‘Quit and Stay Quit Monday’ as a novel approach to smoking cessation: a pilot experimental study. Journal of Smoking Cessation, 13(3). Retrieved from: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-smoking-cessation/article/quit-and-stay-quit-monday-as-a-novel-approach-to-smoking-cessation-a-pilot-experimental-study/A37244A9E1B5A1245D874C2991F5B40D