Program aims to help Native Americans quit smoking

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A special program to help Native Americans stop smoking will be held in Lincoln and Omaha.

The University of Kansas Medical Center is offering the eight-week program and has openings for 32 Native Americans ages 18 and older. Participants will be given health information as well as nicotine patches, gum and lozenges. Support sessions will be held. In cases of severe cravings and withdrawal symptoms, free medication will be available.

One portion of the group will participate in a program designed for Native Americans, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. The remainder will follow a program that uses the current best practices. Experts will study the results and evaluate the value of a culturally tailored smoking cessation program versus a non-tailored program.

Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that in 2009, adult Native Americans had the highest smoking rate of any ethnic group in the country: 23.2 percent.

Participants use tobacco in some Native American ceremonies.

“That's going to be one deterrent on stopping, because that just creates more cravings,” said Dale Leach II, 36, who told the newspaper that he began smoking when he was 15. He's interested in the program.

“If they're willing to help us quit, I think that's great,” Leach said. “There are Natives out there that can't stop and that are smoking a couple packs a day.”

Chris Legband, a program facilitator and Ponca tribe member, said the program has helped her stop smoking.

Project manager Baljit Kaur said organizers hope to expand the program into Norfolk, Niobrara and Winnebago, then across the Missouri River to Sioux City, Iowa.

She hopes to establish the program in those communities and let local people or agencies take it over.

“We want to give it back to communities so they can tailor it according to their needs,” she said.

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Information from: Lincoln Journal Star, http://www.journalstar.com