World “NO Tobacco Day”, Youth of Allied Health Sciences Presented A Variety Of Projects At The University Of Lahore

On May 31, 2022, the world celebrates “NO Tobacco Day”. To honor this day, many events take place every year. The effects of smoking tobacco and the millions of deaths that take place, as a result, are widely known. Cancer, stroke, reproductive, heart, and lung diseases are common among males and females worldwide. Globally prevention is valuable to save billions of costs for medical care that have been spent on chronic smoking treatment procedures. It is important to intervene when individuals are at risk of initiation of smoking tobacco.

The effect of family history, cultural acceptance, and role modeling by the elderly is undeniable. Access to smoking devices and vaping products has been more common. This is a concern to do quality-based activities for having control on high rates of youth with smoking habits rather than quantity-based events in the society. The increase in the price and media campaigns may have been doing their work. We have seen that increases in the prices and additional taxes have not much effect on smoking prevention. On the other hand, activities have been arranged each semester to aware teens and young adults, as well as teaching staff, promote counseling services.

Almost 200 students from various disciplines of Allied health sciences at The University of Lahore participated and created projects in the following categories:

Bookmarks were made to write down simple actionable steps to help people in staying away from unhealthy habits for example "Say no to smoking". Positive affirmations are also used on half of the bookmarks to spread the message of hope in living without smoking-based aids for example "breathe in and out only natural oxygen in the air”. Such reminders are helpful in not only shifting young minds towards efforts in saving others but also building their association with alternative tasks. Messages such as how smoking addiction is linked to comorbid eating disorders and suicidal behaviors are developed.

Flashcards were prepared with sets of 5 or more cards by each student to add them in a key ring for easy access and laminate them to save from damage. They chose a psychological intervention to distract themselves from smoking for example grounding and deep breathing exercises. On each of the cards, they write down one strategy to focus on as a substitute i.e. Touch five blue things. For deep breathing, each of the steps is written on each card of the flashcards set.

Poster miniatures were painted or printed to ease the students in highlighting the no-smoking messages for the general population in the societies, some of the posters depicted solutions for staying smoke-free, and others showed the role of psychologists and counseling.

All the projects were extremely enjoyed by the students and they decorated them in a very attractive and colorful manner to place bookmarks in their books, tied flashcards set in their key chains, and paste posture miniatures on their room walls. Some students gift them to their loved ones while others sold them or keep them to inspire others. As a part of the assessment, all submitted projects were evaluated for creativity and unique suggestions about finding a reason to quit smoking and using drugs. A piece of art was selected to portray social belongingness as a major support in keeping a patient away from tobacco and its effects.

Three best submissions were chosen from each category and a natural gemstone to use as a pendulum was distributed as a token of appreciation for self-hypnosis. Smoking cessation has been proven to manage with the help of hypnotherapy. I write a lot of content for various educational purposes. I may conclude this news with my positive message below-

Let's keep a bookmark in every book, hang flashcards set with your keys and paste a poster miniature on your desk!

“We cannot control what happens in one’s life but we may choose to control our self”

Supervisor/Course Trainer

Dr. Nazish Idrees, PhD., M.S., M.Sc., B.Sc. (Clinical Psychology)

Faculty of Allied Health Sciences at the University of Lahore

Clinical Psychologist, Khalid Clinic, Gurumangat Road, Gulberg III Lahore

Certified Dialectical Behavior Therapist

Certified Couple/Family Therapist

Certified Addiction Prevention and Treatment/Recovery Counseling Professional

Certified Neuro-linguistic programming and Hypnotherapist

Certified Diet and Nutritional Therapist

Certified Memory Improvement Therapist