Welcome to the September 2007 QuitChat

In this issue:

Quitline capacity increases

We are increasing the capacity of the Quitline in readiness for a busy quitting year in 2008.

With the introduction of the graphic warnings on cigarette packs from next February, we need to make sure that smokers who want to quit can easily access services. One of our main objectives is to reduce the numbers of callers who are unable to get through to talk to a Quitline Advisor and to provide services to more people.

Further development of our website is underway, along with the new texting service (txt2quit), which will sit alongside and complement the Quitline. From late January next year txt2quit will offer text support with a focus on 16-24 year olds in a pilot running for two and a half years.

In the next month people who want to quit smoking will also be able to access nicotine patches and gum through the Quit website www.quit.org.nz. This is part of a Ministry of Health's objective of making NRT more easily accessible. We are also developing moderated forums for quitters to strengthen the online quitter community.

Giving smokers more choices means we can focus on more effective ways of referring people who need a face-to-face service, as well as generating more Quitline calls from the District Health Board areas with high smoking rates.

Helen Glasgow
Executive Director

New email support for quitters

The Quit Group has launched a new free email support system to help people quit smoking and stay quit longer.

Quit Tip emails are a series of useful tips sent out over eight months, which are relevant to the length of time someone has been quit. Tips include dealing with stress, socialising with smokers, and coping with cravings.

Pre-testing of Quit Tips showed 86 percent of those surveyed would sign up for this new service.

Anybody wanting Quit Tip support can register with the Quit Online Community at www.quit.org.nz.  Cessation providers can offer Quit Tips as another support tool, in addition to face-to-face services.

Questions or comments? Contact Hayden Sanders hayden@quit.org.nz.

The Quit Pasifika Fono

Members of the ten-strong Pasifika Fono include Quitline advisors, team leaders and Pacific Services Advisor Linda Tasi-Mulitalo.

The Fono meets regularly to discuss and support the implementation of The Quit Group's Pacific Strategy.

The members pictured here are (front left) Tulaga, Jana, Tom (back) Linda, Willie, Pue and Dan.

 

 

 

Quit Cards update

Quit Card providers are no longer required to send in any returned data for the NRT cards given to their clients. Any questions about this should go to tracey.pirihi@quit.org.nz. 

The Quit Group is also working through the new Cessation Guidelines and Quit Cards Co-ordinator Tracey Pirihi will communicate any changes to the Quit Cards service and also update the manual.

 

Te Maanga's quitting story 

Te Maanga Kupa's wife would go out and buy him cigarettes when he tried to quit smoking because she couldn't cope with his moods. Te Maanga, who lives in Hawkes Bay, says he knew he was being a pain when he came off the cigarettes but couldn't help himself. About half a dozen quit attempts ended in failure before he finally quit in June last year, after smoking up to 25 cigarettes a day for 14 years.

Quitting smoking wasn't easy. Recently there was a family funeral, and Te Maanga says he could easily have picked up a cigarette. "There are days when I would still kill to have a cigarette but I get more and more strength as time goes on."

Te Maanga coped with the tangi by getting busy and talking to people. His wife has also helped by being prepared for the bad days and choosing to ignore the moods.

Nicotine patches were an extra support. Te Maanga got low-cost patches through the Quitline and used them for more than two months. After the two months he rang the Quitline for another month’s supply because he felt frightened about going it alone.

"One week later I realised I didn’t need the patches any more."

One year on, Te Maanga’s noticed a big improvement in his breathing and fitness levels and says he’s no longer coughing up "gunk".

"I feel like I am leading a longer, cleaner and more enjoyable life," he says.

Calls to the Quitline 

Calls to the Quitline remained high in July when the Tash Tawhara Video Diaries campaign was re-scheduled.

Maori callers made up nearly 26 percent of registered callers. Seven percent of registrations were from Pacific peoples. Quit is experimenting with running more continuous advertising at lower media weights.

Quitline caller registrations from DHBs

(April – June 2007) 

DHB April May June Total
Northland 76 132 117 325
Waitemata 242 351 311 904
Auckland 161 257 247 665
Counties Manukau 175 294 251 720
Waikato 180 3-5 257 742
Bay of Plenty 99 187 143 429
Lakes 64 120 76 260
Tairawhiti 13 33 32 78
Taranaki 47 84 65 196
Hawke's Bay 91 140 146 377
Whanganui 32 78 39 149
MidCentral 68 125 106 299
Wairarapa 19 42 30 91
Capital and Coast 140 189 176 505
Hutt Valley 64 145 121 330
Nelson Marlborough 60 95 58 213
West Coast 16 52 26 94
Canterbury 239 293 261 793
South Canterbury 19 51 22 92
Otago 112 161 149 422
Southland 50 86 61 197
Not defined 88 89 28 205
TOTAL 2055 3309 2722 8086

Research briefs

Long-term NRT use

Long-term use of nicotine replacement treatment is not uncommon, according to research published in Preventive Medicine. Researchers from the Universities of Auckland, Bath and London found rates of long – term NRT use ranged from two percent for patches to 13 percent for nasal spray. They found long-term NRT use was predicted primarily by the degree of nicotine dependence and was not influenced by cost.

Preventive Medicine 44 (2007)230-234

Impact of anti-smoking campaigns

An Australian study has found anti-smoking media campaigns prompt people of all socio-economic status to ring Quitlines but more needs to be done to encourage people from disadvantaged backgrounds to make quit attempts. The researchers looked at calls to the Quitline by socio-economic status over about three years and measured this against scheduling of media campaigns.

J Epidemial Community Health 2007;61:298-301.doi:10.1136/jech.2005.043380

Television advertising schedule

Date Campaign Media weight
September Stu Sutherland in Video Diaries 70 TARPs a week
1 October – 2 November Heart Attack – Every cigarette is doing you damage 70 TARPs a week
4 November – 1 December Lung Tar – Every cigarette is doing you damage 70 TARPs a week