Advice Update to Mental Health Organisations
The government has released an advice update about vaping in mental health settings
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by Dave Cross
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PHE says: “E-cigarettes are effective in helping smokers to quit, especially when combined with behavioural support. E-cigarettes are not covered by smokefree legislation and there is no evidence that passive exposure can cause harm other than to people with pre-existing respiratory conditions.”
1 in 3 cigarettes is smoked by a person with a mental health condition, so supporting them to stop smoking must be the overriding priority
The government’s instruction to institutions is clear: “You should base policies about vaping on evidence of relative harm compared with smoking, and e-cigarettes’ role in supporting smokers to quit or stop during their inpatient care. This includes designating areas within the hospital grounds and buildings where e-cigarette use is allowed or prohibited.”
“We expect NHS trusts and service providers to review local policies and adopt the recommendations unless there are valid evidence-based reasons not to. This might include setting proportionate and justifiable restrictions to improve security and safety in some secure and longer-stay mental health services. This advice can also support wider NHS trust action for achieving smokefree status. There should be no new costs to trusts from implementing this advice.”
ASH Webinar - The use of e-cigarettes among people with a mental health condition
The Mental Health and Smoking Partnership says [link]:
- E-cigarettes are substantially less harmful to health than cigarettes
- They do not contain or burn tobacco, meaning they do not produce carbon monoxide, tar or many of the other harmful chemicals found in tobacco smoke and to date, there have been no identified health risks to bystanders
- Based on the available evidence it is likely that e-cigarettes are substantially less harmful than cigarettes
- If people wish to quit smoking using an e-cigarette, they should be given evidence-based information about their relative safety and should be offered specialist support to switch
- For anyone who smokes, switching completely to vaping will ensure the greatest reduction in harm and deliver most benefit to health
- For data recording purposes, a person who has stopped smoking completely and switched to vaping is classified as a non-smoker
- Switching from smoking to vaping could save people around £700 a year
Related:
- E-cigarettes: use by patients in NHS mental health organisations, PHE – [link]
- Use of electronic cigarettes by people with mental health problems: A guide for health professionals, Smokefree Action – [link]
Photo Credit:
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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