Wellness Programs - Quitters Do Win.

Quitting tobacco use at any age can improve a person’s health.  And believe it or not, older staff often fair better with tobacco use cessation than younger workers.

According to the Journal of American Medicine, Duke Univ. reseearchers tracked 573 older patients over 10 years. They found that just 16% of those who joined the smoking cessation program later returned to smoking.

Previous research has found young smokers who try to quit have a 35 percent to 45 percent relapse rate within two years.

Given that staff nationwide are retiring later and the cost of retiree health care is sky high, you might want to keep attempting with use of tobacco cessation programs, even for the oldest staff on your health plan.