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Quit smoking in Dorset

Start your stop smoke story today.

Five decades ago, half of the British population smoked – a public health nightmare. Smoking is substantially lower today, and Dorset is even lower than the national average at just 11.5% prevalence in adults (versus 14.9% for the rest of the country).

But there's no time for rest.

Smoking is estimated to be the leading cause of death and illness in the UK. And it isn’t just linked to the ‘obvious’ chronic diseases plaguing society, such as heart disease, stroke and certain cancers: there’s no organ not affected by smoke.

All in all, that’s a lot of trips to the doctor!

Smoking related morbidity and mortality is costing the NHS approximately £2.5 billion per year. Reducing numbers of smokers and encouraging individuals to quit at all points of contact has the potential to transform the burden placed on health care workers and free up NHS resources for direction elsewhere.

Public health measures are working - but quit rates have been slowing over the decades. We need to change the way we address smoking behaviour to reduce the still overwhelming health care burden of this unhealthy habit.

Addressing smoking behaviour as a health care professional:

Six out of ten smokers want to quit – but less than a third will attempt any form of quitting, and only 5-8% of those will use evidence-based interventions. The problem? They struggle to know how.

Time is a scarce resource for health care practitioners. To mediate this, brief advice is a recommended, effective and an appropriate way to address smoking behaviour. This includes: a quick assessment of current and past smoking behaviour, concise information on the health consequences of smoking, and enlightening the patient on options for support in smoking cessation – including referral to local behavioural support services.

Motivation to quit is at its highest when experiencing an adverse health condition - and when information is delivered by a health care practitioner. You're in the perfect place to initiate one of the greatest lifestyle interventions your patient can experience.

And if they're not ready to quit? Ensure that they understand the health consequences, encourage a harm reduction approach, and urge them to seek our help as soon as they feel ready to make that change.

How can referring to LiveWell Dorset change your patient's life?

A nudge may be all a patient needs to act. But evidence shows that the more time spent with a patient, the greater the effectiveness of an intervention. This means that your patient gains more healthy life years – fewer trips to the doctor, and a significant reduction in economic strain.

You may not have the time to ensure your patient sticks with their cessation goals, but we do. Open the door to change and we'll continue the conversation.

So, how effective are we?

In the past three years, we've helped over 20,000 Dorset residents to engage in healthy lifestyle behaviours. With tailored services based on behavioural sciences developed by University College London, we're helping the Dorset population to achieve and sustain behaviour change.

We offer personalised, one-on-one coaching and support. This includes:

  • Training on how to improve lifestyle.
  • Education on addressing unhealthy behaviours.
  • Consultations to develop a healthy lifestyle plan.
  • Personalised health plans.
  • Help connecting with local support services, activities and events.
  • Access to expert lifestyle coaches.
  • One-on-one support for as long as the individual needs.

This is free to all Dorset residents over the age of 18.

From the initial decision to give up smoking, to support through nicotine withdrawal and help maintaining their new healthy lifestyle, we're here for your patient.

Interventions work. Change can happen, and healthier lifestyle can be adopted. Over the past seven years, we've seen a 1.6 million drop smokers across the country. Want to make this even lower?

Request a call back for your patient today. 

Lynette

"It was touch and go at first - I got a bit grumpy when I was desperate for a cigarette. But then I reached the end of the week and I thought to myself, ‘I've done the first week!’".

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How does this work?

The tailored approach LiveWell Dorset uses to come up with solutions to the things that are stopping us achieving our goals, is based upon work done by University College London developing the COM-B model of behaviour change. In this model, all behaviour is influenced by understanding a person’s capability to change, their opportunity to change and their motivation to change. By understanding which of these is the biggest barrier to change, we can tailor support accordingly. This model of behaviour change is at the centre of the support we offer, online and in person.

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Welcome!

Is this the first time that you've used our services, or have you already registered with us? To allow us to best serve you, please confirm whether you're new to LiveWell Dorset, or if you've spoken to us before and may have an existing account.

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To speak to one of our dedicated team and get the help you require please request a call back. All call backs from this service are free of charge to both landlines and mobile.

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Do you provide your consent to share your information with the LiveWell Dorset team – part of Public Health Dorset ?

When you register with LiveWell Dorset, we ask you some questions about you and your health (how much you smoke, how active you are, how much you drink and how much you weigh). We store that information and use it to shape our service offer to you – such as the advice we give or the extra services we connect you to. The only people who will see this information will be those involved in the delivery of the service and management of the data. If you would like to use extra services (such as slimming clubs and pharmacies) we have to share this information with them. For us to be able to put you in touch with these services, we must have your consent to share that information with the service (we’ll ask for that later, when if you sign up for extra services).

Before we can sign you up any further, we need to know:

  • You're happy for your personal information to be shared with LiveWell Dorset.
  • You understand what information may be shared and why, and that at times, our contact to you may be supported by technology partners, who have the same data protection standards and safeguards as we do
  • You acknowledge that you can withdraw your consent at any time by informing LiveWell Dorset.
  • You understand that if you do not give consent or withdraw consent then it could be difficult for us to connect you some of the services we offer.

If you require any more information to help you make your choice then please contact the LiveWell Dorset team on 0800 840 1628. All telephone conversations at LiveWell Dorset are recorded for quality and training purposes, and stored whilst you are registered as active within the service.

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Unfortunately we need your permission to store your personal information to help us to assess the best support we could provide or signpost you to. If at any stage you change your mind and are happy to provide your personal information please come back and visit us again.