| <
Poster presentation
Evaluation of drop in to quit
Joanne Adams, Jane Beach, Carol Carter, Ann Fitchett and
Sally Jones
Abstract
Background: The UK government has created services to
enable smokers to quit. Typically, these services provide
group support, for an hour per week for seven weeks, using
a Withdrawal-Orientated Therapy model (Hajek, 1989). Government
monitors the performance of these services, by assessing
the number of people who set a quit date and are abstinent
for four weeks. Many services, including South Birmingham
were failing to meet the target and were recruiting more
affluent smokers. South Birmingham pioneered an alternative
model of service and evaluated the results using descriptive
data to compare the outcome of existing groups with the
Drop In.
Method: Group sessions are structured with participants
attending for three weeks prior to quitting and four weeks
post quit. NRT is provided on prescription. The Drop In
was less formal with visits lasting approximately fifteen
minutes. Participants set a quit date on week one, then
attended weekly for four weeks. NRT was provided free.
Results: Thirty groups took place during 2003 to 04, with
on average 15 participants per group (total=450). However,
1037 people attended the Drop In, leading to queuing times
of an hour or more. 789 (76%) of Drop In participants
set a quit date and 574 (55%) were point prevalence quit
at four weeks, validated by exhaled carbon monoxide. An
additional 30 groups would have been required to produce
this figure. The Drop in attracted men and women equally,
whereas groups attracted more women than men (60/40).
Interestingly, 44% of those who quit with the Drop In
were manual workers, compared to a figure of 10% within
groups. Furthermore, the cost per quitter for groups was
£233, compared to a figure of £118 for the
Drop In.
Conclusion: The Drop In attracted large numbers of people
and boosted quit figures, reaching smokers whom otherwise
might not have accessed support.
Joanne Adams, Jane Beach, Carol Carter,
Ann Fitchett and Sally Jones
South Birmingham PCT Stop Smoking Service,
Springfield Centre, Raddlebarn Road,
Selly Oak, Birmingham B29 6JB
Tel: 0121 627 8372 / 0797 097 1338
jane.beach@southbirminghampct.nhs.uk
carol.carter@southbirminghampct.nhs.uk
catherine.fitchett@southbirminghampct.nhs.uk
|
