Quit Group

With family and friends coming together over the holiday season and the yearly price hike on tobacco products due to kick in on the first day of 2020 Te Kupenga Hauora - Ahuriri’s Stop Smoking Practitioners grabbed the chance to do some health promotion and get innovative about interacting with those looking to quit.

Between Christmas and New Year they ran two separate events. One saw them set-up on Marine Parade with a free sausage sizzle giving them the opportunity to interact with a number of locals, inform them of the many FREE services available through Te Kupenga Hauora - Ahuriri and spread the smokefree message. On another day, they set about door knocking to those in emergency housing to see if whānau were interested in becoming smokefree with their support.

As a result, they have formed their first ‘Quit Group’ made up of those they spoke to that day who expressed a desire to give up smoking. “These people want help. They genuinely want to stop smoking and they didn’t know where to go for support or where to look,” explains Stop Smoking Practitioner Charlie Rask.

The Stop Smoking Practitioners are excited to see how the combination of Face to Face support and the group environment can assist whānau to achieve their goals. Working Face to Face with whānau is one of the strengths of the service. The programme runs for four weeks and includes weekly carbon monoxide testing, FREE Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), phone/ messenger/email/text support and weekly sessions. Though the team is happy to roll the programme over when people need continued support to achieve their goals.

“The other bonus is that we can connect whānau to our other services. Nurse-lead clinics, Family Start, Youth Support and so on. We can help them take a holistic view of theirs and their family’s wellbeing.”

Charlie also notes the ripple-effect and the impacts just one person’s actions can have. “One of the doors we knocked on had three whānau members sign up prompted by the one who opened the door. Doing it together leads to better chance of success and role modeling change to others in the family is a huge positive.”

Is 2020 your year to quit? For FREE support to achieve your goal contact Te Kupenga Hauora – Ahuriri on 06 835 1840 and ask to speak to a Stop Smoking Practitioner.

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