Marking successes
Over the past nine years, the Center for Community-Based Research has fine-tuned many health education models and enlightened thousands of individuals and organizations about cancer risk. One recent success story is Emmons' second-hand smoke study, Project KISS, which found that adult smokers who received counseling and feedback about nicotine levels in their homes were able to reduce the smoke exposure of young children living with them.
At Tympanium Corp., the stop-smoking program inspired 13 of the company's 80-odd workers to quit the habit this past summer and others to lose weight and exercise more. Company President James Liberty is pleased by his employees' enthusiasm. And, as a result of this project, Tympanium changed a 30-year-old policy and thrilled many staff in July by deciding to become a smokefree company.
Dana-Farber's Nancy Lightman, a coordinator for Healthy Directions, points to the benefits of these kinds of activities.
"To see that little spark go off when people want to make a lifestyle change — not for me, but for themselves — is very gratifying," she says. "They encourage one another to practice healthier habits and come up with ideas for improving their working conditions. I've seen employees and managers form partnerships to create a better environment for everyone. This is tiring work," Lightman acknowledges, "but it's incredibly rewarding."
