Re-framing stop smoking services in response to e-cigarette use
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Reframing stop smoking services in response to e-cigarette use: An exploratory stakeholder study
IRAS ID
219310
Contact name
H R Farrimond
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Exeter
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 6 months, 1 days
Research summary
E-cigarettes are an electronic form of delivering nicotine without the combustion (smoke) of regular cigarettes. They have been widely adopted in many countries, including the UK with 2.6 million users. However, their use is controversial, with some in public health urging caution given their unknown long-term safety profile, with others supporting their use given benefits of quitting smoking. Public Health England have estimated e-cigarettes to be 95% safer than regular cigarettes, and a ground-breaking set of guidelines have been issued by the National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training (NCSCT) encouraging stop smoking services to consider incorporating them into their services to become 'e-cigarette friendly'.
However, it is very unclear how stop smoking services have responded on the ground to e-cigarettes and their users (often called 'vapers'). There has been a rapid decline in the numbers of smokers using such services, funded by local councils and often delivered by the NHS, even though the behavioural support they provide still represents the most effective way to quit smoking. Some surveys of stop smoking practitioners indicates widespread caution about their use (e.g. Hiscock et al., 2014).
This study therefore sets out to investigate how the international and national debates about e-cigarettes are being played out amongst the clinic and community advisors helping people to quit smoking on a daily basis. It focuses on a series of case-studies, interviewing a number of staff and patients/service users at services which differ in terms of structure and location, although all are based in the South-West of England. The aim is to identify the issues, needs and resources and best practice for stop smoking services as a basis for discussion and action in the rest of the public health community.REC name
London - Stanmore Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0549
Date of REC Opinion
31 Mar 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion