About Us
Every successful individual knows that his or her achievement depends on a community of persons working together.
About Us
Smokefree is a community driven group to help you quit smoking. Established in 2020, we proivde support services to those who wish to quit smoking and live a smokefree life.
Understanding who smokes, what effect smoking has, why people smoke, and how best to help them stop, is central to the role of a stop smoking practitioner as this provides the context for your professional practice.
Key Facts
The latest statistics for 2019 indicate:
- Smoking prevalence in Ireland was 15.6%;
- Prevalence amongst both men and women had declined over the last two years to 20.9% and 15.5% respectively;
- Smoking rates had declined across the age groups with the exception of the 35-44 group and the 55-64 group where rates had increased.
- If you work in an area with a specific population of smokers, it is important to understand what impact this may have on referral and attendance to stop smoking services.
- Smoking prevalence refers to the number of people currently smoking and frequently changes.
Smoking and Gender
Although teenage girls are generally more likely to smoke than teenage boys, by the time they become adults smoking prevalence is slightly higher in men than in women.
A lot of people think women find it harder to stop smoking than men, this is not normally true. Men and women find it equally difficult to quit smoking. However, women are more likely than men to access stop smoking services.
Although women report smoking for weight control more than men and are concerned about weight gain once they quit, it is not a common reason for relapse back to smoking once they make a quit attempt.
Smoking and age
Studies have consistently shown that:
- Smoking prevalence peaks in the mid-twenties;
- Younger smokers are more likely to try to stop smoking but less likely to succeed;
- Older smokers are more likely to have switched to lower tar cigarettes.
Quit attempts
About 4 out of every 10 smokers (39%) have tried to quit in the previous 12 months, but only about 5% of these succeed.
Over half of all smokers (52%) say that they are ‘cutting down’ on their smoking.
There is no difference between ‘lighter’ (less dependent) and ‘heavier’ (more dependent) smokers in their attempts to stop, but less dependent smokers are more likely to succeed.
The main times for trying to quit are January (because of New Year resolutions) and March (because of No Smoking Day).
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