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But for those who aren’t trying their luck at the challenge, who really knows much more about the contest? A good person to start directing questions to would be Amanda Woodfield.
Woodfield, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, is the project coordinator of the Quit & Win program. Boynton Health Services of the U of M Twin Cities campus started the program to find ways to convince contestants to quit not only for the duration of the competition, but for good. According to Woodfield, there are only about seven staff members working on the project, all of whom were working for Boynton beforehand. Yet the program has a much longer history than the portion they’ve been there for.

Researchers at the U of M’s Division of Epidemiology pioneered the project in the early 1980s with pilot studies in Mankato, Bloomington, and the Fargo-Moorhead community. In 1985, Finland’s North Karelia Project instituted a new program, “Quit & Win,” in order to help urge smokers to quit and therefore reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Nine years later, the program had become international, and is still conducted by the World Health Organization every two years.

By 2004, it was already occurring in 80 different countries.
According to statistics, in 2002 the Quit & Win program in Quebec had a budget of $600,000. But where did all the money for this project come from? For Minnesota, the answer may be surprisingčit came from the tobacco companies themselves. Anti-smoking and research campaigns gained over $100 million through lawsuits, according to Ramsey County District records. Some of that money has gone to fund projects such as Boynton’s Quit & Win program.

So far this year, Woodfield has a record of 415 students from eight different metro campuses registered for the contest, but expects to reach many more by the registration deadline, which was Oct. 31 for Hamline.

“The last week has always been the busiest,” Woodfield said, adding that she expects registered contestants to total “well over 600.”

To be eligible, contestants must have been smoking a minimum of 10 days per month for at least a year. Hamline students, staff and faculty who meet the criteria may apply. At the end of the month, a drawing will be held to determine the winners of the prizes, which are gift cards ranging from $100-$3,000. There are 10 different stores winners may choose from, in whatever combination they would like.

In addition to staying smoke-free for the month of November, contestants are also expected to register with a “smoke-free friend” someone who is currently not a cigarette smoker, but can help their friend as they begin the difficult process of quitting smoking.

“[Smoke-free friends] get non-smokers involved with the contest, as well as provide support for the contestant,” Woodfield said. In addition, they can help the entrant find activities that don’t involve bars or alcohol, which Woodfield says are dangerous for people who are attempting to quit smoking.

Bars serve as a “trigger,” for smoking, Woodfield said. This is true even in bars where smoking has been banned, because the atmosphere of bars reminds ex-smokers of their past habit. In fact, Quit & Win’s website lists alcohol as the “biggest reason for failure,” in smokers who are trying to quit.

The website also gives some hints for controlling urges such as keeping your hands and mouth occupied, going for walks or to the movie theater, and concentrating on short-term rather than long-term quitting goals. These urges can be prevented, however, by getting rid of those things that remind people of smoking. These can include, but are not limited to, ashtrays and cigarette packages.

Contestants are encouraged to make a list of their triggers before they begin the actual process of not smoking, so they can both avoid them and formulate plans for how to deal with urges. It is also recommended they tell loved ones what they are going through in order to create a supportive environment.

The contest has promising results. In a study conducted in 2006, a survey was returned by 456 former participants in the contest after it had ended. Of them, 73.3 percent had gone without cigarettes for the entire month, according to Boynton’s study results released that year. Most of those individuals had been smoking between eight and 12 years.

Those who weren’t able to quit completely benefited as well. The number of cigarettes smoked per day by the contestants dropped from 5,619 to 994-- difference topping 80 percent.

The demographic that contests such as these have proven to be most beneficial for, Woodfield says, has been college-age students.

Yet perhaps not everyone should be too confident at first. Woodfield says most people who try to quit end up attempting somewhere between seven to 10 times before the results last, since it is a difficult habit to break, and the staff at Boynton understand this. In fact, a majority of the participants of the Spring 2006 contest had tried quitting at least once within the past year. She added that her organization hopes that participants remain smoke-free after the contest, and assures them that they won’t be left in the dark once the contest is through.

In addition to free patches and gum given to participants when they start the process, Quit & Win also provides them with tips and tries to raise confidence in contestants in hopes that they will keep working toward their goals long after the winners of the contest are announced. That holds true even if they aren’t quite able to reach it the first time around.

The self-esteem boost alone can be enough to help those who are trying to break the smoking habit, according to Woodfield. Having the assurance that a goal is attainable brings you that much closer to reaching it.

“Students have confidence that, yes, they are able quit,” Woodfield said. “They can try again whenever they’re ready.”
A copy of the report used in this article may be obtained from Boynton Health Services at the University of Minnesota.