Effective support methods

One-to-one support

This form of intensive support combined with drug treatments has the highest success rates. This service is usually free of charge and is run by health services. Smoking cessation advisors are specially trained to support you through the quitting process. You can attend smoking cessation clinics for one-to-one sessions that are tailored to meet your needs. They usually take place for 1-4 weeks before your quit date and continue for up to one year after you quit.

These sessions will:

1. look at your desire and readiness to quit,
2. take a history of your smoking habit,
3. assess your nicotine addiction,
4. identify your reasons for quitting and any difficulties or risks of relapse,
5. create a personal plan for your quitting,
6. measure your carbon monoxide levels,
7. recommend suitable medical treatment, refer you to doctor for prescription and follow-up.

Contact the National Smokers’ Quitline on callsave 1850 201 203 to talk to an advisor or to find you nearest HSE stop smoking service.

Group support

Group courses are usually six weeks long and meet once a week for about an hour. They are usually run by smoking cessation advisors and can be very effective. In the first session the members of the group introduce themselves, they review past attempts to quit, determine reasons for quitting and set a quit date for the group. At follow-up meetings, members discuss their progress, address any difficulties, swap coping tips, and encourage one another to stay quit. The advisors will measure each member’s carbon monoxide levels (before and after quitting), their level of nicotine addiction, and recommend medical treatment. Contact the National Smokers’ Quitline on callsave 1850 201 203 to talk to an advisor or to find you nearest HSE stop smoking service.

Self-help

There are leaflets and books available which give you information on how to give up, what to expect when you give up smoking, the health effects of smoking and tips on how to stay stopped. Others focus on changing your attitude towards smoking. These are better than having no form of support but you are more likely to succeed with one-to-one or group support.