Great Lakes Wire

Youth in Michigan have a new tool to help them quit tobacco and nicotine products. The My Life, My Quit program has introduced a mobile app that provides confidential support directly through smartphones.

“This new app will meet teens where they are with tools that support quitting tobacco products,” said Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, chief medical executive. “We are grateful My Life. My Quit. worked with young adults to update their programming and are excited to promote this new option to youth in Michigan.”

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) partners with the My Life, My Quit program to offer free, evidence-based services aimed at helping youth stop using tobacco and e-cigarettes. The service includes live text and phone coaching, interactive content, and personalized quit plans. The newly launched app was developed after gathering feedback from teens who use the program, aiming to make support more accessible and increase engagement.

App features include real-time chat with a quit coach, reminders, motivational messages, progress tracking, interactive quit planning tools, and seamless integration with the full My Life, My Quit program across devices. The app can be downloaded from Google Play and Apple App stores.

Young people interested in joining the program can visit https://mylifemyquit.org/ or text “Start My Quit” to 36072 for enrollment information.

Data from the 2023 Michigan Youth Tobacco Survey shows that 13.2% of respondents currently use some form of tobacco product. E-cigarettes are the most common product used among these youth, with 11.1% reporting e-cigarette use within the past 30 days.

MDHHS emphasizes several benefits of quitting tobacco such as saving money, improving health, and spending more time with loved ones. They also note that quitting may require multiple attempts and encourage users not to give up if they do not succeed initially.

Additional resources can be found at https://www.michigan.gov/tobacco.