The American Lung Association announced that Bayhealth has been awarded a $12,000 tobacco prevention mini-grant.
The funds will be used to support seven tobacco cessation classes, the Better Breathers Club, and for asthma education for children, according to Clinical Educator Terry Towne, in Bayhealth’s Education Department. This is the 13th tobacco prevention grant that Towne has administered. “It provides items, such as incentives and travel time, that we wouldn’t have otherwise,” she said.
Tobacco cessation classes are free to adult Delaware residents but do not include nicotine replacement products. Classes are held from October through May in Smyrna, Dover and Milford. In the last three years, Bayhealth has provided 70 classes, with 65 clients successfully stopping their use of tobacco products.
The Better Breathers Club, offered monthly in Dover, Milford, and Smyrna, provides group support for people dealing with chronic obstructive lung disease. The groups are conducted through a partnership between Bayhealth’s Education and Respiratory Care departments.
The asthma education support is in the planning stages, Towne said, but it will focus on children.
The mini-grant program is made possible through the Delaware Division of Public Health’s Tobacco Prevention Community Contract. Funding for the contract is provided by the Delaware Health Fund.
Visit bayhealth.org/classes for more information on Bayhealth’s Tobacco Cessation program and the Better Breathers Club. For more information on the American Lung Association, visit lung.org.
