Community Benefit Fall Report 2007 - (Page 10)

Lancaster General Preventing Tobacco Use Today S moking is on the decline in Lancaster County, but there is still a lot more work to be done. According to a recent Health Data Report, tobaccorelated illnesses are associated with the top four causes of death in Lancaster County: heart disease, lung disease, stroke and cancer. Additionally, secondhand smoke is associated with Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, asthma and chronic respiratory infections in children. We recently unveiled BreatheWell, a comprehensive tobacco-free initiative designed to improve the health of Lancaster General employees and everyone who visits our facilities. Smoking and tobacco use will be prohibited for anyone (including patients, employees, physicians and visitors) on our leased and owned properties beginning Jan. 1, 2008. Recognizing that smoking is a difficult addiction, BreatheWell also encompasses a variety of smoking cessation programs that help those wishing to quit. Lancaster General and its physicians also work together to increase the number of clinicians who routinely counsel smokers about secondhand exposure/prevention. From June 2003 to May 2007, 40 county physician practices and 559 medical personnel received training support from the Clean Air program, which was developed with the Pennsylvania Academy of Pediatrics. We also offer a smoking cessation counseling program for inpatients at Lancaster General Hospital and Women & Babies Hospital. Since its launch, in late 2004, 3,184 patients have participated in the program. More than half of the patients contacted were still smoke-free one year after joining the program. Lancaster General is a member of the TobaccoFree Coalition of Lancaster County, a group dedicated to decreasing tobacco use and the illness and death related to tobacco use in our community. The coalition is the governing body of the Pennsylvania Tobacco Settlement Funds, which are overseen by the Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission. Lancaster General has worked closely with the coalition to identify needs and provide programs aimed at making Lancaster a tobacco-free community. Susan Lackmann, a LifeSkills instructor, provides middle-schoolers with the tools to reject unhealthy habits such as smoking. Progressing Toward a Healthier Tomorrow By 10 http://www.lancastergeneral.org/content/LGWv5n1_05.htm http://www.cleanairforhealthychildren.org/ http://www.paaap.org/ http://www.tobaccofreelancaster.org/ http://www.tobaccofreelancaster.org/ http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/settlements/state.php?StateID=PA http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?a=530&q=379662&lancoNav=| http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/lanco/cwp/view.asp?a=530&q=379662&lancoNav=|

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Community Benefit Fall Report 2007

Community Benefit Fall Report 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.