09 March 2016
Smokers in Jersey are being urged to take the first step in giving up cigarettes for good on No Smoking Day, which takes place on Wednesday 9 March.
This year’s No Smoking Day theme is ‘Be Proud to be a Quitter’ Quitting smoking can be challenging, but it is achievable and many successful quitters report feeling proud of finally managing to quit.
Dr Rhona Reardon, Help2Quit Lead Nurse and Health Psychologist said “We want to encourage smokers to become proud quitters and an important step in achieving this is to get help from a Stop Smoking Service. This year we are planning to help healthcare professionals make every contact count by training them in how to raise the issue of smoking, using an evidence-based approach known to increase uptake of the service. This means offering help, rather than simply telling people they need to stop smoking; which we know from smokers can be unhelpful.
"We have begun training and development of hospital staff to improve their skills in talking to patients about smoking. The recently published Jersey Smoking Profile indicated that 1,000 hospital admissions are directly attributable to smoking. It is therefore vital that we increase the confidence of healthcare professionals to address smoking in a way most likely to influence patient’s motivation to quit smoking. We will extend this training to a wider number of healthcare professionals in the community throughout 2016 including community pharmacies."
On No Smoking Day, pharmacies delivering the service will be asking all customers about whether they smoke and offering the support that is shown to increase the chances of successfully quitting. As part of this, Help2Quit advisers will be out in force on 9 March seeking to engage and inform smokers on the range of local services and resources available.
The annual campaign is run by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and encourages hundreds of thousands of smokers across the UK to make a quit attempt.
Dr Susan Turnbull, Medical Officer of Health, said: “Giving up smoking is the single best thing you can do for your health, which is why we’re encouraging smokers to mark the date in their calendars and take the first step towards a smoke-free life.”
Smokers in Jersey who want to find out more about Help2Quit should call 0800 7351155.
gov.je