Wellness Programs - Quitters Do Win.

Quitting smoking at any age can improve a person’s health. and believe it or not, older employees often fair better with smoking cessation than younger workers.  

As reported by the Journal of American Medicine, Duke Univ. reseearchers tracked 573 older patients over 10 years. They found that just 16 percent of those who joined the tobacco use cessation program later returned to tobacco use.  

Previous research has found young smokers who try to quit have a 35% to 45% relapse rate within two years.

Given that staff members nationwide are retiring later and the cost of retiree health care is sky high, you may want to keep trying with use of tobacco cessation programs, even for the oldest staff members on your health plan.