Richmond County Health Department provides free tobacco cessation, inclusive of electronic devices, by a certified Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist to the community at large. Additionally, in preventing tobacco use in children and young adults, Richmond County Health Department provides a CATCH My Breath certified youth tobacco specialist to work with the schools to implement the CATCH My Breath curriculum in the fight against vaping and tobacco products.  

• American Cancer Society Stay Away from Tobacco | American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer.

• Richmond County School System Richmond County Schools 

The school system teaches tobacco awareness and avoidance. Each school utilizes counselors and teaching staff to highlight N.C. curriculum standards and stand-alone activities to promote tobacco-free students.

• Region 6 Tobacco Collaboration

The collaborative works to improve the health of North Carolina residents by promoting smoke-free environments and tobacco-free lifestyles. Our goal is to build the capacity of diverse organizations and communities to implement and carry out effective, culturally appropriate strategies to reduce deaths and health problems due to tobacco use and secondhand smoke.

• Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training Program Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training Program | Durham, NC (dukeunctts.com)

The Duke-UNC Comprehensive TTS Program combines findings from the most current evidence-based research on pharmacotherapy, population-based issues, practical guidance on running a practice, and targeted skills in tobacco dependence counseling. Through a combination of interactive, virtual sessions and online self-paced training, Duke-UNC TTS offers leading-edge, evidence-based continuing education in a fun and engaging online experience. Completion of this course fulfills the training requirement for the National Certificate in Tobacco Treatment Practice (NCTTP), offered by the Association for Addiction Counselors (NAADAC).

• NC DHHS Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch  North Carolina Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch Home Page (ncdhhs.gov)

We provide information about evidence-based ways to reduce the toll of tobacco/vaping use on N.C. communities and to promote tobacco-free living. 

• QuitlineNC QuitlineNC.com

We provide free cessation services to any North Carolina resident who needs help quitting commercial tobacco use, including all tobacco products offered for sale and not tobacco used for sacred and traditional ceremonies by many American Indian tribes and communities. Quit Coaching is available in different forms, which can be used separately or with another program to help any tobacco user give up tobacco.

• CATCH My Breath  CATCH My Breath E-Cigarette & JUUL Prevention

CATCH My Breath is a peer-reviewed, evidence-based youth vaping prevention program developed by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. The program provides up-to-date information to teachers, parents, and health professionals to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about the use of e-cigarettes, including JUUL devices. CATCH My Breath utilizes a peer-led teaching approach and meets National and State Health Education Standards.

• North Carolina Healthy Beginnings Grant 

The Infant Mortality Reduction Program provides funding for education, support, and elimination of exposure to tobacco products to community members in assisting in the quitting of tobacco products (inclusive of electronic nicotine delivery systems) using the 5A’s (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange). Grants are awarded for three years and are administered by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, Women’s and Children’s Health Section, Women’s Health Branch, Perinatal Health Unit.

• Healthy Communities DHHS: DPH: CDI: Healthy Communities (nc.gov)

The North Carolina Division of Public Health (DPH) uses Preventive Health and Health Services (PHHS) Block Grant funding to administer the Healthy Communities Program through the Chronic Disease and Injury (CDI) Section. This program aims to reduce the burden of chronic disease and injury in North Carolina. This funding enables county and district health departments to implement community-based interventions that address poor nutrition, physical inactivity, tobacco use, violence, and unintentional injury.

The American Cancer Society Freshstart program uses the 5As over four one-hour sessions to educate participants on the value of quitting smoking and not using electronic nicotine delivery devices. Each session covers strategies to overcome nicotine addiction and withdrawal, tools such as pharmacotherapies (e.g., patches, gum), a quit plan,  and the stay quit maintenance. In addition, each participant receives a Freshstart Participant Guide, six weeks of patches (3-step), incentives (i.e., teeth whitening strips, detergent, body wash), and support. Each participant is also offered NCQuitline referral and services.  

CATCH My Breath Tobacco Use Prevention curriculum is offered to the Richmond County Schools grades 5-12. The program includes workshops, webinars, teacher in-service training, and resources for parents, faculty, and staff to support tobacco and e-cigarette education. In seeking community support, the program also offers concerned citizens, parents, teachers, public health professionals a “Stand with CATCH My Breath” grassroots team for the latest information on tobacco prevention. The CATCH My Breath curriculum has been shown to significantly reduce the likelihood of vaping in the year following program implementation (Kelder et al., 2020).

To reach as broad an audience as possible concerning tobacco prevention and quit services, the Richmond County Health Department implements evidence-based media messaging campaigns approved by the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch to prevent the use of all tobacco products by young people or help tobacco users quit. Some social media campaigns include Every Try Counts, Tips From Former Smokers, and Truth Initiative.  

Kelder, S. H., Mantey, D. S., Van Dusen, D., Case, K., Haas, A., & Springer, A. E. (2020). A Middle School Program to Prevent E-Cigarette Use: A Pilot Study of “CATCH My Breath.” Public Health Reports, 135(2), 220–229  https://doi.org/10.1177/0033354919900887

We serve every one of all ages, races, religions, and ethnicities who live within Richmond County boundaries. According to County Health Rankings and Roadmaps (2021), Richmond County has twenty-six percent of adult smokers (age-adjusted) as determined by data from 2018. The percentage of the adult population who smoke in a county reports that they currently smoke every day or some days and have smoked at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. The current estimated population in Richmond County is 42,946 and comprises an estimated White population at sixty-one percent and an estimated Black population of thirty-two percent. The remaining estimated seven percent population is American Indian, Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races. The median age averages around forty-one years. Gender averages to be an equal distribution of males to females. The estimated population of persons under the age of eighteen is twenty-three percent and reflects the racial composition of the adult population.

The Richmond County Health Department, Smoking Cessation Program, impacts the community by promoting strategies to prevent smoking initiation, including electronic nicotine devices and eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke. In addition, Richmond County Health Department realizes a need to identify and eliminate tobacco-related disparities in our county. The disparities include high-risk populations such as those with mental illness, substance use disorders, and those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. Other disproportion populations include low-income, less-educated, males, young adults, children, Black and Native Americans.  

Richmond County Health Department and its partners collaborate on advocating and promoting tobacco-free environments and lifestyles. Together, we advocate for policies to end the sale of flavored tobacco products ( i.e., candy-flavored, menthol), increase state tobacco sales tax, create local tobacco-free policies (i.e., local government indoor and outdoor), restrict access of tobacco stores to minors, and increase restrictions on tobacco advertising.