'Me mutu, hei oranga mo te whānau'
Let's quit, for the well being of the family

Welcome to the March 2007 QuitChat

In this issue:

• Relapse is normal
• Pak'nSave Grocery Manager stars in TV quit smoking commercial
• Quit.org.nz takes off
• New Tongan Infosheet
• Quitline Service Evaluation
• What's happening in QuitCards
• Callers registering with the Quitline
• Quitline caller registrations from DHBs (October - December 2006)
• Research briefs
• Television advertising schedule

Relapse is normal 

Quitting smoking is a tough challenge for most smokers, who will need to make several quit attempts before they succeed. Many world experts refer to smoking as a "chronic relapsing condition."

People who relapse often spend a lot of time and energy beating themselves up and feeling very self-critical. We need to reassure them that quitting smoking will take time and usually multiple attempts. They need to know that relapsing is a normal part of the process.

The drive to smoke is like hunger (it is nicotine hunger). Dr Robert West from University College in London describes smokers as having 'physical and physiological associations with smoking, an attraction to smoking, and positive evaluations of smoking.' He said all of these factors act to subvert and overwhelm the smoker's drive to quit. 'Smokers need treatment for a disorder, for abnormal function, a function which has been distorted by nicotine,' Dr West says.

We often hear people confess that they quit for one, two or even more years and then started smoking again. It could be useful for them to regard themselves as "recovering smokers" who, like recovering alcoholics can never afford to let down their guard.

Helen Glasgow
Executive Director

Quit.org.nz takes off

About 10,000 people are visiting www.quit.org.nz each month and the blogs are the most frequently visited part of the site.

Data presented by Quit Communications Advisor Hayden Sanders at this month's Social Marketing Conference shows Māori make up nearly 20 percent of the quitters using the new online quitting community. Pacific peoples are also quitting online and make up about five percent of the total registered community.

Hayden reports there are significantly more women quitting online than men. The average age for the online community is 33 years - the same as for Quitline services.

About 58 percent of people using the online community are using that service only.

For information or feedback contact Hayden: hayden.sanders@quit.org.nz.

Quitline Service Evaluation

The Quit Group has started an in-depth evaluation looking at Quitline callers' quit status, perceptions of the Quitline, their quitting history and use of Nicotine Replacement Therapy. Gravitas Research and Strategy has been contracted to conduct a phone survey with 3500 Quitline callers, including over-samples of Māori, Pacific Peoples and youth. The research participants will be surveyed three weeks after calling the Quitline and followed up again after six months.

What's happening in QuitCards

QuitCards Co-ordinator Tracey Pirihi is working on a project to find out how many registered providers are currently active.

There are about 800 registered providers and so far Tracey has found that about 169 are inactive and not distributing QuitCards. Inactive providers will receive a letter and Tracey will follow this up with a phone call to discuss whether providers wish to continue offering smoking cessation.

Quitline caller registrations from DHBs (October - December 2006) 

Research briefs

NRT more effective for men

Preliminary research shows men benefit more than women from NRT. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh told the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Conference held last month in Texas, that NRT remains effective for women but they appear to quit more successfully using counselling support. Women appear less responsive to the rewarding effects of nicotine but more responsive to reinforcement cues, the researchers say.

A paper by New Zealand researchers Nick Wilson, Michele Grigg and Chris Bullen on the effectiveness of NRT and Quitlines was also presented at the conference (see www.quit.org.nz).

Smokers given paid leave to quit

Smokers in one part of England are being given paid leave and counselling sessions to quit smoking. Employees working for the Milton Keynes Council, including staff working in council schools, civic offices and day care centres will be entitled to six hour-long sessions. Council taxes are being used to cover the scheme.

BBC News

Healthcare system savings from quitting

A new Australian study predicts a saving of nearly $400,000 in health care costs associated with heart attacks, lung cancer, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease over ten years, if 1000 people quit smoking.

The study, commissioned by the VicHealth Centre for Tobacco Control, also found many health benefits from quitting. For example if a 50-54 year old male smoker quits, his probability of being diagnosed with lung cancer, COPD, stroke or heart attack in the next 10 years is reduced by 40 percent.

http://www.resource-allocation.com/content/5/1/2

Smokers living in deprived areas less likely to quit

Living in a deprived area appears to reduce your likelihood of quitting smoking, according to a study published in Tobacco Control. The Dutch public health researchers studied 404 smokers living in 83 areas and found the odds of quitting decreased for people living in the most deprived areas.

Tobacco Control/2006; 15:485-488.doi:10.1136/tc2006.015750

Cutting down doesn't work

A long-term study has found no evidence that heavy smokers who halve their daily smoking reduce their risk of premature death significantly. Researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health screened more than 50,000 people in the mid-1970s and then followed up their health outcomes during 2003. The study concludes it is misleading to tell smokers that their health will improve by cutting back the number of cigarettes they smoke.

Tobacco Control 2006; 15:472-480.doi: 10.1136/tc2006.016246