Developing E-cigarette friendly smoking cessation services in England: staff perspectives.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Tobacco Control
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• England's public health leadership uniquely supports e-cigarettes for smoking cessation.
• National guidelines for e-cigarette friendly stop smoking services have been developed.
• Limited understanding exists regarding staff perspectives on these services and their implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the adoption and use of e-cigarette guidance within smoking cessation services.
• To understand the on-the-ground perspectives of staff delivering tobacco cessation interventions.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 cessation service staff (advisors, managers, commissioners).
• Interviews were conducted across eight services in the South-West of England.
• Thematic analysis of interview transcripts was performed using NVivo software.

Main Results:

• E-cigarette friendly services lacked a unified definition, ranging from active engagement (e.g., vape shop partnerships, voucher schemes) to passive acceptance.
• Many services did not use 'e-cigarette friendly' branding.
• Staff attitudes were influenced by concerns about nicotine addiction and product safety versus social justice goals and leadership support.

Conclusions:

• The implementation of e-cigarette friendly services is diverse and influenced by policy and regulation.
• Despite challenges like austerity, opportunities exist for active engagement with e-cigarettes to enhance cessation outcomes.
• Enhanced training, policy consistency, and best practice sharing are crucial for effective implementation.