Will Rogers Institute And Covenant Health Offer Free Stop Smoking App To Help Kick The Habit

BURBANK, Calif., Jan. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Ready for a healthier, smoke-free you? Quitting smoking isn't a breeze, but the Will Rogers Institute has partnered with Covenant Health in Knoxville, Tennessee, to create a smartphone app with tried and true strategies that will help you quit smoking.

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The Stop Smoking Mobile App lets you create a profile to identify the number of cigarettes you smoke on a daily basis, price per pack spent, as well as the "triggers" that stimulate your need to smoke.  Based on a short questionnaire, the app will then generate a realistic "quit date" for you and will help you track how many cigarettes you smoke that day, as well as record the obstacles that keep you smoking and make it difficult to stop.  Daily monitoring and gradual reduction of the number of cigarettes you smoke, based on eliminating the triggers, should help reduce your reliance on smoking to get through the day.  As an added bonus, the app will show you how much money you've saved from not buying cigarettes!

"We have taken the science regarding smoking cessation strategies and created an app that allows you to customize a quit plan based on your personal smoking habits," said Jon Dalton, M.A., member of Covenant Health's smoking cessation task force and manager of Parkwest Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation.  "Education is key to quitting, but it really has to fit in with somebody's lifestyle. Today people want information when they need it and on their own schedule. As health educators, we need to adapt and be more flexible in how we provide education for our patients and public."

The smoking cessation app was funded by a grant from the Will Rogers Institute (www.wrinstitute.org), a national nonprofit dedicated to pulmonary research and disorders. For more information about how to stop smoking and links to download the app, call Covenant Health at (865) 541-4500 or visit www.covenanthealth.com/stopsmoking.

About The Will Rogers Institute
The Will Rogers Institute is a program of the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation -- a charity named after one of the greatest humanitarians, philanthropists and entertainers, Will Rogers. The Institute is dedicated to the support of research and medical school fellowships in debilitating lung diseases and disorders, the distribution of free health educational materials, and being a national leader in providing life-saving neonatal ventilator equipment to hospitals throughout the United States. For more information about the Institute, please visit www.wrinstitute.org.

About Covenant Health
Covenant Health is a not-for-profit health system providing comprehensive health services throughout East Tennessee. Headquartered in Knoxville, Covenant Health includes eight hospitals as well as numerous outpatient health care services, physician offices and wellness programs. Covenant Health has more than 10,000 employees, volunteers and affiliated physicians. For more information, visit www.covenanthealth.com.

Contact: Todd Vradenburg, +1-818-755-2324, [email protected]

SOURCE Will Rogers Institute