Smoking, vaping and using tobacco in Suffolk

Healthwatch Suffolk was commissioned by Suffolk’s Public Health and Communities team (Public Health) to explore people’s experiences of smoking, vaping or using tobacco across Suffolk. The insights from people’s experiences will also help to inform the development of a local Tobacco Control Strategic Delivery Plan, future commissioning decisions regarding support to stop smoking in Suffolk, and the work of the Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Board.  They spoke to 82 people.

The report explores people's experiences via detailed case studies, including how they had started smoking, and their experiences of trying to quit, including smoking cessation programmes.  

People said that smoking and vaping helped them manage stress and emotion.

Over half of the sample were current vapers, and experiences or opinions of vaping were common, even among current smokers or those who had given up nicotine entirely. Vaping had been a positive tool for many to help them quit. Negative comments about vaping mostly referred to high levels of dependency. Respondents frequently rooted this in factors like the social acceptability of vaping, the lack of lingering smell, and that they could be used indoors. It was clear that some respondents felt vaping had not helped them to quit. Reasons given for not wanting to quit using vaping included that respondents did not want to switch one addiction for another, or that it did not match the experience of smoking in other forms. Others did not like the flavour or felt it did not adequately address their craving for nicotine.

The impact of smoking and vaping on health was a key theme across both the signup form and the interviews. Broadly, respondents were aware of the health impacts of smoking, and nearly two-thirds wanted to quit or had quit for health reasons.

Respondents talked about a diverse range of social influences on their smoking behaviour. Social influences like family, friends and colleagues could provide a reason to start or continue smoking, but they had also been a motivation to quit for some. Key life events such as pregnancy have provided an opportunity to quit, however some respondents went back to smoking after their baby had been born. It is notable that over a quarter of the whole sample had started smoking before age 19.

Cost was a smaller theme in the responses. Other factors, like health, appeared to be a more common influence on respondents smoking behaviour. However, for some, cost was a key driver in their decision or desire to quit smoking.

Respondent’s comments about nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in the sign-up form were mostly negative. A few had found these helpful in making a successful quit attempt. There were relatively few comments about using healthcare or other services to support a quit attempt.