The Last Cigarette®
Forty years after the Surgeon General's first report on smoking and health an estimated 46.2 million adults in the United States smoke. Since the 1964 report, 27 Surgeon General reports have repeated a consistent message that tobacco use is the single most avoidable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States.
Like you, UniCare is keenly aware of the adverse health effects from cigarette smoking. With this in mind we are expanding our "The Last Cigarette®" (TLC) program. TLC provides your UniCare patients with some information to help them quit smoking, including a customizable toolkit. The toolkit includes tips and information, such as:
- Ways to cope with craving
- Tips you can use
- Ways of quitting
- A listing of Internet resources
You can refer your Internet-enabled patients to www.unicare.com for an electronic copy of the toolkit (select “Healthy Living” then "Tobacco Cessation"). For a hardcopy version of the toolkit in English or Spanish UNICARE members can call 877-217-8062.
In addition to written materials, TLC provides personalized education and coaching support for members through our Health Improvement Programs (our name for our disease management programs). Every member will be asked if he/she smokes cigarettes. Smokers will be assessed for their interest in quitting and provided with a toolkit customized to their level of interest in smoking cessation.
Another excellent resource for you and your patients is the State Quit Line, a free program available to Illinois and Texas state residents. By calling 877-YES-QUIT (Texas) and 866-QUIT-YES (Illinois) you can obtain:
- Self-help materials
- A referral list of programs
- One-to-one counseling over the phone
Should you have any questions about UniCare's smoking cessation program, please call 877-217-8062.
