Kicking the habit pays at Country Meadows

Cessation program offers financial incentives to co-workers who quit using nicotine and tobacco

Dressed in a festive black and orange outfit for Halloween, Lori McConnell, community life associate at Country Meadows of South Hills, posed with a partially used pack of cigarettes. It was in the cupboard above her stove since she smoked her last cigarette at 9 pm on October 31, 2014. Shortly after celebrating the anniversary of her “quit date,” Lori threw those last six cigarettes away.

“These out of sight remaining six were my will power telling me ‘I’ve got this,’” McConnell told her wellness coach, Anthony Cann of Wellness Coaches U.S.A., who supports co-workers with their wellness goals on behalf of Country Meadows.

McConnell is one of at least ten co-workers who quit using nicotine/tobacco products, or celebrated a one-year quit anniversary, since Country Meadows and Ecumenical Retirement Community initiated financial incentives related to the use of nicotine and tobacco products. Sixty more say they are likely to quit.

“We would be pleased even if just one co-worker had been successful,” says Tracy Newcomer, vice president of Human Resources. “This can be a very difficult process, and we’re happy with the response. The policies are about motivating and educating our co-workers to make good choices.”

Co-workers can receive up to a $250 reimbursement for any certified program to quit smoking including patches, gum, therapy or classes which offer a better understanding of the health risks of using nicotine and tobacco. After at least one year of quitting, co-workers can receive a $250 bonus. According to Newcomer, there may be incentives associated with other health targets such as weight loss in the future.

“Our organizational culture is to support co-workers with tools that help them be healthier,” says, Newcomer, adding that Wellness Coaches, who have been on-site working with co-workers for several years and are trusted resources, are critical to success. “These familiar coaches provide one on one support.”

“For our successful participants, the timing is right. They are at a point where they were ready to quit, and that istheir attitude,” says Cann, senior wellness coach, Wellness Coaches U.S.A., who assists co-workers at the South Hills of Pittsburgh campus. “Many take advantage of the opportunity to be reimbursed for medications that would help them quit, whether that’s gum, the patch, a buddy system or something else that they learned.”

This isn’t the first time McConnell has tried to quit. She says this time will stick because it’s just getting too expensive, and she’d rather have that money for retirement. In addition to the financial incentive, McConnell says that her blood pressure has gone down since she quit smoking, too.

Cann hopes to help more co-workers reach their goals. “I would like everyone to be successful with quitting,” he says, “Because that’s really what’s in their current and future health’s best interest.”