Truth Initiative® Joins Virgin Pulse Partner Program To Help Millions Quit Tobacco

WASHINGTON, July 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- At a time when many are working remotely and experiencing non-traditional routines, digital health programs are more important than ever. To give more tobacco users easy access to support for quitting, Truth Initiative^®, the national public health organization inspiring tobacco-free lives, is partnering with Virgin Pulse, the largest and market-leading, digital health and wellness company for employees, employers, health plans and their members, to bring its enterprise quit program, the EX^® Program, to Virgin Pulse's more than 12 million users.

The EX Program joins a network of clinically proven digital health and wellness tools as part of Virgin Pulse's Partner Network and its recently launched VP+ offering. Through this partner program, Virgin Pulse clients can easily give members access to a personalized quit plan, live chat coaching from tobacco treatment specialists, free quit medication, 24/7 peer support from a thriving social community, tailored text messaging and more through the EX Program.

"Joining the world's largest, most comprehensive digital health and wellbeing company dovetails so well with what we do," said Jenn Gendron, Head of Development, Innovations at Truth Initiative. "Providing on-demand, high-tech and high-touch access to clinically proven resources has always been a critical component of our quit-tobacco offerings. Virgin Pulse is helping us expand our reach to bring evidence-based support and lifesaving tools to help even more people quit."

Forty-nine million Americans use tobacco, and nearly 70 percent of smokers and 60 percent of e-cigarette users want to quit. Tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death in the country and research shows that more than one-third of all smokers (12.4 million) go online for help quitting.

Developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic, the EX Program is an enterprise-level, digital health program for tobacco addiction designed for employers and health plans. Truth Initiative has a long history of building engaging digital interventions and the EX Program grew out of the organization's vast portfolio of peer-reviewed and field-leading research. To date, more than 895,000 participants have enrolled in EX, developing the skills and confidence critical for quitting smoking successfully. Research has shown that following the EX quit plan quadruples a tobacco user's chance of quitting. In response to the e-cigarette epidemic, in 2019, the EX Program expanded to include cessation support for e-cigarettes, as well as resources for parents who want to help their child quit vaping. 

For more information on the EX Program, please visit theexprogram.com. For more information about Truth Initiative, please visit truthinitiative.org. For more information on Virgin Pulse, please visit virginpulse.com.  

About the EX^® Program:
The EX Program is a digital health program for tobacco addiction from Truth Initiative that personalizes the quitting journey for each participant. This interactive, self-paced, guided quit plan was developed in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and provides the specialized support tobacco users need for the behavioral, social, and physical aspects of nicotine addiction. The EX Program has an active social network of thousands of smokers and ex-smokers and delivers proven quit-tobacco treatment via interactive quitting tools and videos, live chat coaching, text messaging, emails, and quit medication. Clients receive quarterly program performance reports, promotional materials, a dedicated client success manager, and more. Visit www.theexprogram.com to learn more.

About Truth Initiative:
Truth Initiative is a national public health organization that is inspiring tobacco-free lives and building a culture where all youth and young adults reject tobacco. In 2020, we are celebrating 20 years of saving lives and preventing millions of youth from smoking. Our impact has helped drive the teen smoking rate down from 23% in 2000 to an all-time low of 3.7% in 2019. The truth about tobacco and the tobacco industry are at the heart of our proven-effective and nationally recognized truth® public education campaign. truth has also recently taken on the youth epidemics of vaping and opioids. Our rigorous scientific research and policy studies, community and youth engagement programs supporting populations at high risk of using tobacco and innovation in tobacco dependence treatment, are also helping to end one of the most critical public health battles of our time. Based in Washington D.C., our organization, formerly known as the American Legacy Foundation, was established and funded through the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. To learn more, visit truthinitiative.org.

SOURCE Truth Initiative

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