Innovative BECOME AN EX Quit Smoking Program Goes Mobile

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Jul 22, 2010, 04:22 ET

WASHINGTON, July 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Legacy and Apperian Inc. have developed an app for iPhone to help smokers who want to quit to "re-learn" their lives without cigarettes on the go with EX®. Research estimates that nearly six million people worldwide will lose their lives to tobacco this year(1), and in the ever-evolving mobile society, innovation in public health education is essential. The Become An EX App provides smokers with a portable version of the comprehensive three-step EX plan available online at www.BecomeAnEX.org.

Quitting on the go just got a little easier with the Become An EX App developed with Apperian Inc. and creative conception by GSD&M Idea City. The app allows users to connect directly to the EX plan to help smokers beat their smoking cravings. Users can play games, watch videos or read top news articles to overcome an urge to smoke by re-focusing their minds on something other than cigarettes. Smokers can also use the app to monitor their smoking behavior throughout the day, so that they can have advance knowledge about when a cigarette craving will most likely hit and can be better prepared to handle it. The app also connects users to the online EX community at BecomeAnEX.org where they can provide and receive support from other EX members. The EX community is a convening point for smokers who want to quit and collaborate on their successes and challenges in the difficult quit process. The app will provide continued updates and include more features in future months.

"We are very excited to bring the EX 're-learn life without cigarettes' method to the App Store," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy. "It takes an average of 8-11 quit attempts before most smokers can quit for good and the decision to quit is by no means easy. However, access to the proper tools and resources are essential to quitting successfully and the Become An EX App will provide users access to these unique features from their phones in order to stay on track to becoming smoke-free."

"Apperian is pleased to work with Legacy and the NATC to create this innovative app," said Chuck Goldman, CEO of Apperian Inc. "We believe that the Become An EX App demonstrates how a mobile solution can play an important part in someone's life."

The EX website provides smokers with a free three-step quit plan to help them re-learn life without cigarettes by 1) "Re-learning" their thinking on the behavioral aspects of smoking and how different smoking triggers can be overcome with practice and preparation; 2) "Re-learning" their knowledge of addiction and how medications can increase their chances for quitting success; and 3) "Re-learning" their ideas of how support from friends and family members can play a critical role in quitting.

About 70 percent of Americans who smoke want to quit, but only about five percent of smokers are successful in quitting long-term. Quitting smoking is ultimately one of the single most important lifestyle changes people can make to improve and extend their lives. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States; smokers, therefore, need to be armed with all the available information to make the best, most informed choices about the smoking cessation medications and resources available to them from home or on the go.

The Become An Ex App is available from the App Store on iPhone or at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-ex-plan/id369931367?mt=8.

EX®

EX® is a collaborative public health campaign presented by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation, a partnership of the nation's leading public health organizations and states. The campaign helps smokers prepare to quit and guides them to useful resources that foster successful quit attempts including the EX plan, a free personalized quit plan available on the campaign's Web site www.BecomeAnEX.org. EX is the culmination of several years of research and testing, combining an understanding of the power of nicotine addiction with messages that resonate with and motivate smokers toward behavior change. The EX approach is peer to peer and focuses on "re-learning life without cigarettes" by encouraging smokers to think differently about the process of quitting. The campaign, which began airing nationwide in March 2008, includes television, radio, online and out-of-home advertising. The EX Web site helps smokers create their own individual plan to quit and connects them to a virtual community of other smokers where they can share stories and strategies about quitting. Founding members of the NATC include numerous states and the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, the National Cancer Institute, Legacy, C-Change, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) and clinical partner, the Mayo Clinic.

About Apperian Inc.

Apperian Inc., (www.apperian.com) is a leading provider of solutions for mobile users and enterprises with a team of world-class mobile application developers, strategists, information architects, and award-winning designers whose experience in building transformative mobile Apps and helping companies leverage iPhone is unmatched in the industry. Apperian has provided solutions for companies including American Greetings, Estee Lauder Companies, Genentech, Intuit, Progressive Insurance, Timberland, and Warner Brothers, and is headquartered in Boston, Mass..

Apperian is a registered service mark of Apperian Inc. All other trademarks or service marks are the property of their respective owners.

(1) Tobacco Atlas, American Cancer Society and World Lung Association, August 2009.

SOURCE Legacy