1. A new age for telephone support to aid smoking cessation?
Robert West
University College London
February 2007

2. Use of evidence-based smoking cessation support
Data on usage from Smoking Toolkit Study October/November 2006 (N=642 most recent quit attempts)
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 ?

3. 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

4. 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