Views from the Coalface: What Do English Stop Smoking Service Personnel Think about E-Cigarettes?

Rosemary Hiscock, Linda Bauld, Deborah Arnott, Martin Dockrell, Louise Ross and Andy McEwen
Additional contact information
Rosemary Hiscock: Department of Health, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK
Linda Bauld: UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies (UKCTAS), Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK
Deborah Arnott: Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), Suites 59–63, 6th Floor, New House, 67–68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JY, UK
Martin Dockrell: Public Health England, Skipton House, 80 London Road, London, SE1 6LH, UK
Louise Ross: Stop Smoking Service Leicester City Council, Leicester LE1 6TH, UK
Andy McEwen: UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies (UKCTAS), Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK

IJERPH, 2015, vol. 12, issue 12, 1-11

Abstract: The UK Stop Smoking Services (SSS) are a source of information and advice on e-cigarettes for smokers and thus it is important to understand the knowledge of, and attitudes towards, e-cigarettes held by stop smoking practitioners. The datasets were English SSS quarterly monitoring returns ( n = 207,883) and an online survey of English SSS practitioners, managers, and commissioners between 26th November and 15th December 2014 ( n = 1801). SSS monitoring data suggested 2% of clients were using e-cigarettes to quit with SSS and that clients using e-cigarettes had similar quit rates to clients using Varenicline. Most SSS personnel are waiting for licenced e-cigarettes to become available before they will recommend them to clients. However, less than a quarter view e-cigarettes as “a good thing”. Managers and commissioners were more positive than practitioners. SSS personnel working for the NHS (hospitals and GP surgeries) were less positive about e-cigarettes than those employed elsewhere. E-cigarettes were cited as the most important reason for the recent decline in service footfall. Thus dissemination of information about e-cigarettes needs to be examined and services should address their stance on e-cigarettes with some urgency.

Keywords: e-cigarettes; stop smoking services; cessation; harm reduction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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