In the last ten years whilst adult smoking rates have fallen, rates among teenagers have continued to rise. Smoking remains the largest cause of preventable disease and is responsible for around 78,000 deaths in the UK each year.
Children who begin smoking before the age of 16 are twice as likely to continue to smoke into adulthood as those who start smoking later. Stopping children and young people from starting is a high priority. Helping those who do begin, to stop as soon as possible, is equally important.
Vaping is known to be increasing in the UK. Ideally young people would not start vaping either but experts believe it carries significantly less risk than cigarettes. Vaping can be used as part of a supported plan to stop smoking.
In Professional Settings
Settings can play a part in helping children and young people stay smoke free by;
Teens are pre-disposed to be pleasure seeking and risk taking. It is one of the challenges of having a teenage brain. Clear boundaries and expectations in relation to tobacco use in and around their setting are also important.
Additional Training
You may decide you need some more smoking cessation input to address multiple young people in the setting using tobacco products. One option is to train a smoking cessation advisor within the setting to undertake targeted sessions. This could be as part of group or one to one sessions.
There may be young people that you feel require greater support than you can provide. Some young people may want support to quit smoking but would prefer this not to be in their setting. Services will depend on where the young person lives; check out the links below to check what is available.
Resources
E-Learning
'All Our Health' offer free, bite-sized e-learning sessions - to improve the knowledge, confidence and skills of health and care professionals in preventing illness, protecting health and promoting wellbeing. The sessions cover some of the biggest issues in public health including;
They contain signposting to trusted sources of helpful evidence, guidance and support to help professionals embed prevention in their everyday practice.
