In this article...
Most people who vape have already quit smoking with the help of an e-cigarette. Almost all of the rest are in the process of doing so. In fact, in 2020 around 27% of people looking to quit in England did so using an e-cig [i].
Totally Wicked has been committed to helping people quit from the very beginning. We have had a dedicated lead working on Health Improvement Partnerships (HIP) for over 4 years. Helen Astbury is our current Health Improvement Lead. She is the driving force behind much of the work we are doing to help the UK go smoke free!
So, let's talk about some of the less publicised ways we work, that mean more people can quit with the help of an e-cigarette. They have been able to change their lives for the better.
Quit with the help of a e-cigarette – Vape Friendly Stop Smoking Services
Some quitters are happy to seek help from friends and other vapers. Others need a little extra help. Not everyone knows that all of our retail staff team are NCSCT trained. This training does not just include Level 2 General Practitioner. We also require our teams to complete Pregnancy & Postpartum, and Mental Health modules. However we also know that there are full-time specialists working just to help people quit. There is a lot we can do to help them. After all, vaping is the UK’s most popular and effective quit aid [ii].
Totally Wicked HIP currently work with 48 Health Improvement partners. These include NHS Trusts, special quit teams, charities, Local and Regional Authorities, pharmacies and commissioned stop smoking services. Right now, we have 60 “live” projects among these partners. Their valuable work includes special areas in quitting such as maternity, and people with mental health and substance misuse issues. It also includes vulnerable groups such as people that are homeless. During the COVID lock-downs of 2020 and 2021 we provided specific packages to help homeless people. The majority of these had been “rough sleepers”.
Training to enable more people to quit with an e-cigarette
Over the last 2 years we have provided unlimited free training to over 65 services. We have delivered it to thousands of advisors and clinicians. We have given them much needed information, advice and guidance about vaping. Just as importantly we have helped them understand the truth about vaping. In this training we cover topics needed to quit with the help of an e-cigarette. However we also offer an additional Q & A Session with our very own TW Technical Director, Liam Humberstone. These sessions can be quite lively, as they are quite literally, “Ask us anything!” No question is too difficult, as we just need to be open. We also aim to get rid of any of the common vaping myths. Such as “is vaping really safer than smoking?”
In recent years our work with quit services has grown a lot. In 2020 we worked with with 13 organisations. 2021 brought an extra 19 partners on board. And in the first part of 2022 we have already started work with 16 more. These organisations and services stretch across most of England, and we have no plans to stop there.
Public Health support for vaping assisted quits
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP), the Royal College of Midwives (RCM), the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID, previously part of Public Health England) and other respected organisations have something in common. They have all made positive statements about the benefits of vaping to quit smoking. As this support has grown, we have taken more of an active role. This is in part because more quit services have sought our help. Most recently, in 2021, NICE reissued their guidance [iii] on helping people quit. They now recommend quit services make sure that they make a vape option available. As a result of all this support we are sure we will see our partnerships grow. And this can only mean that even more people become smoke free.
