The NHS Smokefree campaign suggests the following top ten tips to help smokers on their path to becoming smokefree:
- Order a free DVD from 0800 169 0 169 to find out about the full range of NHS support available to help you quit.
- Get support from trained NHS advisers who can help you to understand your addiction and how to beat it.
- Identify your smoking triggers and plan ahead. Try the Addiction Test at www.nhs.uk/smokefree.
- Buddy up with a friend so you can support each other or ask your friends and family to sponsor you on www.justgiving.com/
- Use nicotine replacement products or other stop smoking medicines to cope with the withdrawal symptoms. These are available on prescription from the NHS.
- Sign up for free text and email alerts from the Together Programme with motivational tips and advice to keep you on track.
- Avoid situations where you might be tempted to smoke again. Plan ahead to cope with the hard times.
- Note how much cash you’re saving. Work out how long it will take you to save for your dream purchase by using the calculator on www.nhs.uk/smokefree.
- Use a carbon monoxide monitor to see for yourself how quickly your body recovers once you stop smoking. Local NHS Stop Smoking Services offer carbon monoxide monitoring as part of their stop smoking programmes.
- But most importantly, take it one day at a time and reward yourself every day.
Call the NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 0 169 or visit www.nhs.uk/smokefree for tons more free resources.
Here are some helpful facts that may also help in any 'quit' campaign.
- 57% of smokers say that they intend to quit in the next 12 months.
- 86% of smokers cite at least one health reason for why they want to quit.
- 60% of current smokers have made a serious attempt to quit in the past five years
- 53% of smokers have sought some kind of help or advice for quitting smoking.
- 86% of people who have attempted to stop smoking in the last year would like to stop smoking
- Heavy smokers are more likely to have tried to stop smoking (87%)
- 55 percent of smokers said that someone had asked them to stop smoking this tended to be a partner (22%), son or daughter (17%) or a parent (16%)
- Women were more likely than men to say that their children were asking them to quit (22% and 13% respectively)
- Only 7% of smokers who had previously managed to stop smoking, had quit for two years or more, while 72% had only managed to quit for six months or less.
Source: ONS (2007) Smoking related behaviour and attitudes. London: The Stationary Office.
