The University of Georgia is helping members of the Athens community to stop smoking. The College of Pharmacy is offering a series of classes to help smokers and others stop using tobacco products. The six-week ‘Beat the Pack Tobacco Cessation Program’ starts next week. And while medicine can help many patients, lead instructor Kay Brooks says they can also benefit by counseling from trained pharmacy students.
“We know through research that if a patient is a candidate for medication that help them quit, but we also know that adding counseling is a really important component because you have to learn new lifestyles and new patterns throughout your life when you quit smoking," Brooks said. "And so each on is an individual, and that’s the nice part about having one-on-one counseling is that we create an individualized for each person, based on their patterns of use."
The classes are free and open to the public.
“We know through research that if a patient is a candidate for medication that help them quit, but we also know that adding counseling is a really important component because you have to learn new lifestyles and new patterns throughout your life when you quit smoking. And so each on is an individual, and that’s the nice part about having one-on-one counseling is that we create an individualized for each person, based on their patterns of use.
Classes start August 22nd, they will be held Tuesdays at Athens-Clarke County Firehouse #7 at 2350 Barnett Shoals Road.