Better access to smoking cessation support for mental health patients needed

Main Category: Mental Health
Article Date: 30 May 2004 - 15:00 PDT

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People with mental health problems who also smoke need targeted support to help them quit, says the Health Development Agency, UK (HDA). A report on smoking and mental health, reveals that more than half of mental health patients who smoke would like to give up[1] yet many say they receive little help in doing so from health professionals working with them.

The new HDA booklet 'Smoking and patients with mental health problems' highlights that while people with mental health problems smoke more[2], those working with mental health patients do not always consider smoking cessation an important issue. The HDA is recommending that mental health professionals should routinely ask about smoking and advise patients who smoke to stop, as well as supporting those who want to quit.

Relaxed smoking policies in psychiatric institutions and hospitals mean that smoking behaviour is often reinforced, with cigarettes sometimes used to reward patients for good behaviour. And, not forgetting the financial burden that affects people who smoke, the HDA recognises that those with mental health problems on low incomes can spend a large proportion of it on cigarettes - resulting in less money to spend on possessions which could help to improve their quality of life. This is a major factor that contributes to existing health inequalities among smokers.

Dame Yve Buckland, Chair of the Health Development Agency, says:

"Limited access to smoking cessation services for smokers with mental health problems is a clear example of health inequality. Smoking is a major cause of ill health and premature death among people with mental health problems, so it is essential that better support is available to this group. People with mental health problems may be less likely to report or seek treatment for their physical symptoms but that doesn't mean the problems don't exist.

"Smokers with mental health problems need as much support to quit smoking as any other smoker. All those working with mental health patients should raise the issues with their clients so that those who want to quit can be offered the support they need. Good evidence exists that smokers with mental health problems can be helped to stop smoking."

Other recommendations in the booklet include:

Specialist smoking cessation staff should liaise with mental health professionals to support them in advising smokers to stop

All smokers who wish to attempt to stop smoking should be referred to a trained advisor for specialist support in doing so

All mental health trusts should introduce smoke-free policies in an attempt to make non-smoking the norm.

The 'Smoking and patients with mental health problems' fact sheet, which highlights key facts and statistics on smoking and mental health in the UK, is available at http://www.hda.nhs.uk /documents/smoking_mentalhealth.pdf or by calling 0870 121 4194.


ENDS

Notes to editors

A joint HDA/Action on Smoking and Health fact sheet, 'Smoking and Health Inequalities' setting out key issues concerning smoking and disadvantaged groups is available at:


http://www.hda.nhs.uk/documents/smoking_and_health_inequalities.pdf

The HDA's recent fact sheet, 'Smoking, homelessness and health', highlighting key facts and statistics on smoking and homelessness in the UK is available at:
http://www.hda.nhs.uk/documents/homelessness_smoking.pdf

The Health Development Agency www.hda.nhs.uk is the national authority on what works to improve people's health and to reduce health inequalities. It works in partnership across sectors to gather evidence of what works, advise on standards and to develop the skills of all those working to improve people's health.

For further information please contact Dr Tonya Gillis or Sophie Davison, HDA Press Office on 020 7061 3117/3125.

Smoking: The Facts

People with neurotic disorders such as depressive episodes, phobias or obsessive compulsive disorders are twice as likely as those with no neurotic disorder to smoke

Patients with severe mental health problems have a higher risk of premature death than the general population

Around 12 million adults in the UK smoke cigarettes

28% of men and 25% of women smoke

More than 80% of smokers take up the habit as teenagers

About half of all regular cigarette smokers will be killed by their habit

The poor spend a disproportionately larger share of their income on cigarettes; smoking a branded pack of 20 cigarettes a day costs £1,600 a year

Over two thirds of smokers in all social groups want to quit (66%)

57% of smokers would find it difficult to go without smoking for a day

[1] In a national survey of psychiatric morbidity among over 8,000 people, 52% of those having a diagnosis of schizophrenia and who smoked wanted to stop smoking. Ref. 'Smoking and patients with mental health problems', Health Development Agency 2004.

[2] 51% of those having a diagnosis of schizophrenia in the above sample, and half of those with bipolar affective disorder, smoked more than 20 cigarettes a day compared to only 8% of the general population. Ref. 'Smoking and patients with mental health problems', Health Development Agency 2004.

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