The Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) has launched web-based tool designed to help Iowans who have chosen to quit smoking. "Web Coach" is an interactive online program that provides each participant with a personalized experience. The Web Coach focuses on four essential practices to enable smokers to quit for life: quit at your own pace; conquer your urges to smoke; use medications so they really work; don't just quit; become a non-smoker
Each of these practice areas will include articles, videos, e-lessons and interactive worksheets to help participants successfully quit tobacco. Progress toward that goal includes a spending calculator, to help a participant compare the cost of tobacco vs. the cost of medication; a tobacco usage tracker, which allows a participant to track when and where they smoke to identify patterns and triggers; and discussion forums and online groups for more personalized social support.
After quitting, participants can track how long they've been tobacco-free and see how much money they've saved and time that has been added back to their daily life since quitting tobacco.
For more information about Web Coach, visit www.quitlineiowa.org