The North West Hospital and Health Service (NWHHS) smoking cessation campaign for staff and members of the public, “Increasing your Opportunities”, kicked off last Thursday with 74 individual consultations at the stall in the Hospital foyer, over three hours.
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Senior Prevention Officer for NWHHS’s Mental Health and Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs Services (ATODS), James Cripps, said many people were concerned about family members who smoked, and wanted advice and support.
“There is a clear awareness that smoking is dangerous and reduces life expectancy,” he said.
“A strong theme among the participants was that they had made a number of attempts to quit, but were unsure of what support networks and treatments were available or what products would best suit their quit journey, so we able to give out a lot of information to help them.”
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Mr Cripps said a large number had made attempts in the past and felt disappointed when they had relapsed.
“People talked about the triggers or social settings that provoked anxieties for them and caused them to return to smoking.
“This included experiencing grief and loss of a family member, or situations regarding other personal relationship or family breakdowns.
“It was evident that in some cases people began smoking because of learnt behaviours such as growing
up in a household of family members that were regular smokers,” Mr Cripps said.
He also said many people reported having unsuccessfully tried nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) and medications.
“During these conversations it became clear that unsuccessful attempts to give up smoking were possibly due to not utilizing support from their GP or counselling services, not correctly using products such as NRT and other medications, not completing treatments, and not knowing what options and technologies people could access to support their smoking cessation.
“It was also clear that many people had limited information on multiple therapies that could increase their chances for more positive and permanent outcomes, so I feel we are starting to fill those knowledge gaps by getting the information out there and talking one on one.
“Those who had quit attributed their success to the support team from a health provider and accessing medications including NRT.
“Having the right supports, having a quit plan which includes a relapse strategy and knowing the range of products and technologies available are all really important to support people to stop the smokes for good,” Mr Cripps said.
