Your Heart, Your Life: A Community Health Worker's Manual for the Hispanic Community

Session 10 Handout Break Free From the Smoking Habit

Download Break Free From the Smoking Habit (40k) handout.

Doña Fela's tips to make your home smoke free

When a friend comes to our house and lights up a cigarette, I say very politely, “I'm sorry, we have a smoke-free home. Please smoke outside.” And I keep a sign in my home that says, “Thank You for Not Smoking.”

Protect your children!

• Talk to your children about the harm that smoking will do to their health. Help them practice saying, “No, thanks. I don't smoke.”
• If your children already smoke, the way you react can make a difference. Tell your children that you really care about them and what happens to them. Listen to their thoughts and feelings. Give them facts that can help them choose good health over smoking.
• Make your personal pledge to protect your family from cigarette smoke.

Here are some examples:

• If you smoke
  I will set a quit date today. (The important thing is for you to pick the date – not your doctor, not your family, not your kids. It's your decision.)
• To help your children stay smoke-free
  I will talk to my children about the harmful effects of smoking. I will encourage them to create a sign that says, “We are a smoke-free family.”
• To protect your family, friends, and others from smokers
  I will let my family, friends, and others know that I do mind if they smoke around me. I will put a “No Smoking” sticker or sign in my house and car.
• To help your community
  I will encourage my neighbors to have smoke-free homes. I will give them “Thank You for Not Smoking” posters.

Write the changes you will make this week:

The health of yourself and your family is priceless. Make an investment in it!

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Information on this page is taken from the English print version of “Your Heart, Your Life, A Community Health Worker's Manual.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, NIH Publication No. 08-3674, Originally Printed 1999, Revised May 2008.

Last Updated March 2012