Designing an intervention to help the quitters quit: A qualitative, intervention co-design study

Dyson, Judith; Skinner, James; Crick, James; Crooks, Michael G.

Abstract

Objective: E-cigarettes are increasingly being provided by publicly funded stop smoking services. Our objectives were to understand the challenges and establish the means by which services could best support the use and subsequent discontinuation of e-cigarettes for this purpose. Methods: Semi-structured interviews and co-design workshops with service users and providers of a stop smoking service. Results: Thematic analysis was conducted. Interviews identified: 1. a reluctance to use e-cigarettes for cessation, 2. struggle to quit e-cigarettes (dependency, fear of relapse, compensatory “puffing”) and 3. service development needs (consistency of approach). Co-design workshops suggested: 1. facilitation of e-cigarette use through understanding previous failed attempts, 2. offering a longer, two-staged approach to tobacco then e-cigarette cessation, careful timing of behavioural strategies and 3. enhanced communication between providers. Conclusions: Our study suggests additional modifications to smoking cessation support measures when e-cigarettes are used for smoking cessation to address the challenges posed by public health guidance: “smokers should switch to vaping and vapers should stop smoking completely”. Innovation: Our study is the first to consider experiences of service users and providers about the challenges of using e-cigarettes for cessation; our co-design group of providers informed nine strategies needed to support this approach in practice.

Citation

Dyson, J., Skinner, J., Crick, J., & Crooks, M. G. (2023). Designing an intervention to help the quitters quit: A qualitative, intervention co-design study. PEC Innovation, 2, Article 100141. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100141

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 18, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Feb 21, 2023
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 15, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 21, 2024
• Journal: PEC Innovation
• Electronic ISSN: 2772-6282
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Article Number: 100141
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100141
• Keywords: E-cigarette; Smoking cessation; Behaviour change; Intervention; Qualitative; Co-design
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4271231