Tobacco Cessation Toolkit

The Tobacco Cessation Toolkit is designed to help you support a healthy, tobacco-free workplace and guide employees who wish to quit smoking, vaping, or chewing tobacco. This no-cost program can encourage lasting lifestyle changes that improve their health and engagement. Help your employees build healthier habits and potentially lower the cost of care by taking advantage of our tobacco cessation resources.

Contents

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Ready to get started?

Our communication plan templates contain sample messaging to help you launch a tobacco cessation program in your workplace.

Get the communication plan

Why tobacco cessation matters

Tobacco use is widespread and significantly impacts employee health — both for the user and those around them.

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S.1

Over 28M U.S. adults smoke cigarettes, making it a common workforce health issue.2

16 million Americans live with a smoking-related disease.3

The annual cost of tobacco use

Tobacco use costs the U.S. over $240 billion in annual health care spending.4 Businesses are hit especially hard.

Employers incur

$784 per employee

in added costs from absenteeism, lost productivity, smoke breaks, and excess medical costs.5

$185 billion per year

in lost productivity from smoking-related illnesses and health conditions in the U.S.6

What you can do about it

Nearly 70% of adults who use tobacco want to quit, and over 50% try to quit each year.7 Supporting employees who want to quit can help them reach that goal.

Tools to guide your tobacco cessation program

Worksite health survey: How healthy is your workplace?

Before you start, gauge where your employees may be on their health journeys.

Download the worksite survey
Employee health interest survey

Use this questionnaire to find out which health issues matter most to your employees.

Download the employee survey
Plan your communication strategy

Access our prewritten templates to draft emails, newsletters, and more for your employees.

Access the communication templates

Resources to share with your employees8

Tools for Kaiser Permanente members

Total Health Assessment

Ask your employees to take this health assessment, and we’ll guide them toward their goals.

Take the Total Health Assessment

Wellness Coaching by Phone

Work with a coach to quit tobacco, manage weight, get active, reduce stress, and more.

Find a wellness coach 

Health classes and support groups

Sign up for programs designed to help you achieve your health goals. Options vary by region.

Search the directory 

Fitness deals

Take advantage of reduced rates on studios, gyms, fitness gear, and online classes.

Explore fitness deals 

Get the activation guide

Use these templates to communicate with your employees as you launch your workforce well-being program and continue to support healthy lifestyle choices.

Download this toolkit

Save this toolkit to access offline or share with your colleagues. You’ll find the same resource links included in the downloadable toolkit.

Footnotes:

  • 1“Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General,” CDC.gov, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco-surgeon-general-reports/reports/2020-smoking-cessation/, accessed May 24, 2024.

  • 2“Burden of Cigarette Use in the U.S.,” CDC.gov, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/resources/data/cigarette-smoking-in-united-states.html, accessed May 24, 2024.

  • 3“Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking,” CDC.gov, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.htm, accessed May 24, 2024.

  • 4“Costs and Expenditures,” CDC.gov, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/cost-and-expenditures.html, accessed May 24, 2024.

  • 5David I. Swedler et al. “National Medical Expenditures by Smoking Status in American Adults: An Application of Manning’s Two-Stage Model to Nationally Representative Data,” BMJ Open, June 11, 2019.

  • 6“Costs and Expenditures,” CDC.gov, https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/cost-and-expenditures.html, accessed May 24, 2024.

  • 7“Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General — Smoking Cessation by the Numbers,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, https://www.hhs.gov/surgeongeneral/reports-and-publications/tobacco/2020-cessation-sgr-infographic-by-the-numbers/index.html, January 23, 2020.

  • 8Kaiser Permanente members may need an account on kp.org to access these tools.