Evaluation of the quit4u smoking cessation scheme
About the study
Quit4u helps people from deprived areas in Dundee to stop smoking. Participants have access to pharmacotherapy and group or one-to-one support. They also receive up to 12 weekly payments of £12.50 if they can prove they haven't smoked.
Our key findings
You can read the final report by visiting the NHS Health Scotland website.
Our findings indicate that quit4u works. Key to this success is continuous contact between clients and the services supporting them to quit. Elements of quit4u that appeared to support this include the use of:
- carbon monoxide monitors to measure smoking status each week, which motivated clients
- high quality one-to-one support from pharmacies, structured around weekly carbon monoxide readings
- support groups, where clients share experiences and tips at different stages of their 'quit journey'
- financial incentives, which appeared to act both as a 'tipping point' to quit and a reason to 'stick with' the quit attempt and to keep coming back for support.
How we worked
Quit4u was developed by NHS Tayside. We were commissioned by NHS Health Scotland to evaluate quit4u with Amanda Amos from the Centre for Population for Health Sciences at Edinburgh University and Marjon van der Pol and Anne Ludbrook at the Health Economics Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen.
Method
The evaluation involved:
quantitative secondary analysis of routine national and local data to assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the intervention
longitudinal research, using a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches, with quit4u participants and key stakeholder and service provider informants.
You can:
Of interest:
- ScotCen Social Research
- 73 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9AW
- Charity no. SC038454
- info@scotcen.org.uk
