Leveraging on community ties: Smoking cessation interventions in a non-healthcare setting

Authors:
Yi Lin Neo, Joanne Chandler and JoAnn Taylor

Presenter:
Yi Lin Neo
Senior Executive, Health Promotion Board, Singapore

Abstract
Smoking cessation is widely available in Singapore’s healthcare settings. Whilst this remains an important avenue for those who want to quit smoking, specific cultural groups are less willing to seek help there. Unfortunately, these groups usually have much higher smoking rates than the national average (13.6%).

Focusing on one of Singapore’s cultural groups, tailored smoking cessation interventions leveraging on strong communal ties have been developed based on a needs assessment. When asked about the motivating factors that would encourage them to participate in health related activities, about 52% of the respondents quoted incentives and 40% quoted increased participation of family and friends.
As a result, a quit and win challenge was initiated during a cultural festival in 2005. The month-long challenge engaged smokers together with their families and friends. In addition to smoking cessation counselling for the smoker, a dedicated session is also conducted for the smoker’s family and friends. The challenge also included teambuilding activities and sharing sessions. Participants’ smoke-free status were monitored twice weekly in random smokerlyser tests. Since its launch, over 2500 smokers have participated. The average 1 month quit rate is 12%, with close to 50% of smokers maintaining their smoke-free status at 12 month follow-up.

Source of funding: Health Promotion Board Singapore

Declaration of interest: none