Effect of the Johnson & Johnson Live for Life program on employee smoking

Abstract

Smoking-cessation programs at the worksite hold the potential to reduce the national prevalence of smoking. This article presents the 2-year results of a broad-spectrum smoking-cessation initiative that was part of the comprehensive Johnson & Johnson LIVE FOR LIFE wellness program. In a quasi-experimental design, four companies offered the complete LIVE FOR LIFE program to their employees, and three comparison companies offered only annual health screen assessments. Smoking status was assessed by self-report and serum thiocyanate at baseline and at a 2-year follow-up. At the LIVE FOR LIFE companies, 22.6% of all smokers quit versus 17.4% of smokers at the health screen only companies. The LIVE FOR LIFE program was particularly effective with smokers at high risk for coronary heart disease: 32% of all high-risk smokers quit at the LIVE FOR LIFE companies versus 12.9% at the health screen only companies. These results demonstrate that a company-wide smoking-cessation initiative can produce significant changes in smoking behavior.