Authors

  1. Buer, Troy

Article Content

Pamphlets by Journeyworks. Consecuencias Para La Salud Por Fumars (The Health Consequences of Smoking); El Tobaco Y El Diner: ?Cuanto Cuesta Realmente Fumar? (Tobacco and Money: What Does Smoking Really Cost?); El Embarazo Y El Humo de Sugunda Mano (Pregnancy and Secondhand Smoke); El Humo De Segunda Mano: Una Prueba Para Toda La Familia (Secondhand Smoke: A Quiz for the Whole Family). Santa Cruz, CA: Journeyworks Publishing. Prices start at $18 for 50 pamphlets.

 

Journeyworks, a national publisher of health promotion and education materials, recently published a set of tobacco prevention and cessation program pamphlets in Spanish. The pamphlets, identical in content, design, and layout of the previously available English pamphlets, were prepared by certified/qualified translators and are appropriate for Spanish-speaking adults and children. Designed in a traditional trifold format and printed on recycled paper, the pamphlets effectively combine color, illustrations, and art to create an attractive and easy-to-read resource for one of the fastest growing populations in the United States. More importantly, these tobacco prevention and cessation pamphlets are filled with helpful and relevant information regarding the financial and physical costs of smoking and the harmful effects of secondhand smoke as well as tips, hints, and reasons for smokers to quit.

 

Each of the 4 pamphlets presents eye-catching facts and figures and offers readers practical smoking cessation and prevention advice. Using information from a recent Surgeon General's report, Consecuencias Para La Salud Por Fumar (The Health Consequences of Smoking) lists 25 health consequences that smokers face including heart disease, stroke and stomach, lung, throat, larynx, esophageal, and oral cancers. The pamphlet also describes the drastic improvements to smokers' bodies over a 15-year period once they choose to stop smoking. El Tobaco Y El Diner: ?Cuanto Cuesta Realmente Fumar? (Tobacco and Money: What Does Smoking Really Cost?) tallies the fiscal costs of smoking. For instance, someone who smokes one pack a day can expect to burn $28 a week, $113 per month, and nearly $1,500 annually on cigarettes. Factor in additional packs per day as well as the increased costs of healthcare and life insurance premiums and the costs of smoking increase dramatically. El Embarazo Y El Humo de Sugunda Mano (Pregnancy and Secondhand Smoke) outlines the dangers and consequences of secondhand smoke to mothers, babies, and infants. The pamphlet also lists ways mothers can enlist the help of family members and employers to create smoke-free environments at home and work. Finally, El Humo De Segunda Mano: Una Prueba Para Toda La Famalia (Secondhand Smoke: A Quiz for the Whole Family) is a clever resource to help parents and children discuss the dangers of secondhand smoke. Families can also use this pamphlet to make concrete plans to protect family members (and pets!!) from secondhand smoke.

 

In the end, I recommend these highly informative and effective pamphlets (both Spanish and English versions) for anyone interested in tobacco prevention and cessation information. They are appropriate for waiting rooms and lobbies in hospitals, clinics, and schools. Parents will find the information particularly useful in talking with their children about the costs, dangers, and consequences of smoking and secondhand smoke. Smokers and friends and relatives of smokers seeking smoking prevention and cessation advice can also benefit from these pamphlets. While the pamphlets provide plenty of reasons for nonsmokers to avoid smoking and smokers to quit, they are not comprehensive resources on the topic of cessation. Other Journeyworks titles would be more appropriate (eg, Quitting Smoking: Common Problems, Good Solutions; How to Help a Friend or Family Member Quit Smoking; Help Your Teen Quit Smoking: A Guide for Parents, etc). Readers may request complimentary review copies and order Journeyworks' pamphlets by calling 1-800-775-1998 or visiting http://journeyworks.com.

 

Troy Buer

 

Doctoral candidate, University of Virginia, Curry School of Education, Charlottesville