Smoking Cessation Campaigns

The campaign consisted of promoting vapes as alternative quit aids (Swap to Stop) and promoting smoke cessation advice at community centres such as libraries, leisure centres and local pubs as well as digital screens, social media and newsletters (Quit Well Newham).

There has been a share of positive and negative results. Positively, the Quit Well Newham Directory saw an 85% increase in referrals compared to same period previous year. Stop-smoking pages promoted had users revisit 2-3 times, indicating repeated consumption contributing to effectiveness. The Better. Stoptober 2024 was the most successful Stoptober to date, with 675 referrals and 424 registrations, each beating all records respectively. Out of all Swap to Stop sign-ups to date, 58% were from 2024 alone.

The campaign aimed to accurately measure effectiveness by identifying ‘priority groups’. These priority groups were determined by vulnerability, demographics such as ethnicity or age and occupation. Current ‘Quit Rates’ for the identified groups are: 45% for Social Housing/Homeless, 84% for Maternity Services, 61% for Manual Occupations, 88% for Substance Abusers and 50% for Older People accessing social care services. Ethnically, 61% of Eastern Europeans and 100% of South Asians are using smokeless or chewing tobacco as alternative quit aids.

However, there were limitations. While the website drew revisits, website engagement declined due to ‘staffing issues’, which also limited capacity to analyse data. The website could also be improved on accessibility for people with learning disabilities

The campaign involved multiple civic engagement strategies. Targeted events at community hubs such as local pubs and leisure centres ensured exposure to identified priority groups such as older people or people in social housing, as these community hubs have been recognised as frequented by these identified demographics, as well as where smoking would directly occur such as pubs. Additionally, partnerships with local services such as the East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) and the Change Grow Live charity (CGL). ELFT allowed access to mental health service users and CGL targeted young people vaping and substance misusers. Both demographics are difficult to directly engage and both organisations provided infrastructure and frontline staff the campaign could use. Finally, the ‘priority groups’ including ethnic distinctions was useful due to Newham being over 75% BAME. Culturally-tailored messaging is a necessity in such a diverse borough.