Promoting cessation is a critical piece of statewide commercial tobacco prevention and control efforts. 

Data shows that the majority of people in South Carolina who use commercial tobacco products want to quit.  Statewide cessation resources like the SC Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) provide equitable access to free, evidence-based quit support.  Health systems change efforts complement cessation interventions like the SC Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) by making sustainable approaches that support individual behavior change a standard of practice.

Health Systems Change

Systems support and cessation intervention training for healthcare providers increases quit attempts among tobacco users.  U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline:  Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence (2008 Update) research shows that clinician interventions that integrate tobacco cessation into healthcare delivery improve chronic disease outcomes, improve effectiveness of cancer treatment, and increase successful quit attempts among patients. 

Effective strategies for health systems change include:

• Developing processes to ensure that tobacco dependence treatment, and its documentation, is fully integrated into patient care and sustained over time
• Developing quality improvement processes for integrating tobacco dependence treatment best practices into routine care
• Utilizing electronic health records (EHR) systems

The Division of Tobacco Prevention and Control helps build the capacity of South Carolina healthcare systems to impact tobacco use by supporting the integration of science-based tobacco intervention protocol for healthcare providers and the adoption of e-referral for the SC Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW).  Access healthcare provider tobacco intervention training or visit the Healthcare Provider section of the SC Tobacco Quitline website. This work supports clinician and health systems efforts to address tobacco use consistently and effectively.

---

Quit Support

Tobacco users are 3 times more likely to quit successfully using SC Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) services than by quitting on their own.

The SC Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) offers free, 24/7 quit support to all SC tobacco users.  Nicotine patches, gum, or lozenges are available.  Para obtener asistencia gratuita en español, llame 1-855-DÈJELO-YA o visite nuestro nuevo sitio web (traducción al español).