A new age for telephone support to aid smoking cessation? Robert West University College London February 2007
Use of evidence-based smoking cessation support Data on usage from Smoking Toolkit Study October/November 2006 (N=642 most recent quit attempts) www.smokinginengland.info Data on success based on ATTEMPT cohort study, evaluation of NHS services and Cochrane reviews NHS and telephone mostly also involve NRT Telephone: multi-sessions telephone support ?
Telephone counselling/support Advantages Strong evidence base Easily audited Good opportunities for quality control Easy to supervise Easy to evaluate innovation Easy access for smokers Flexibility of response Can be used in addition to face-to-face support
A realistic goal? 10 million smokers in England 5 million try to quit each year 2.5 million access multi-session, expert telephone support and medication 750,000 stop successfully