7.15 Methods, services and products for quitting—more intensive support
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7.15.1 Group courses
Group programs represent a significant increase in intensity from self-help and internet interventions.
In recent years there has been a decline in demand for group courses, possibly due to a greater range of methods for quitting becoming available. One difficulty faced by group courses is ensuring they are accessible to people in rural and regional areas, and that they are conducted regularly so they are available at times when smokers are motivated to quit. They are more costly to run compared to other less intense interventions. Despite these issues they have a role to play, such as for those who have particular needs or who have tried other methods and failed.
7.15.2 Quit courses
Quit organisations in Australia most commonly conduct the Fresh Start cessation course or variants of it. The courses are run in many settings, such as workplaces, prisons, in the community, and health centres. The group course is led by an experienced facilitator, and typically has eight sessions of 90 minutes over a four-week period. Participants may be required to pay to take part, depending on the setting. The early sessions cover methods and planning to quit, and participants are encouraged to then set a quit date. Subsequent sessions support participants through making a quit attempt, dealing with withdrawal, problem solving for situations where tempted to smoke, lapses, and other issues in becoming a non-smoker.
Evaluation of the Fresh Start courses has found quit rates at one year of 23% (18% of the original sample).261 Evidence shows that such multi-session group programs are about twice as effective as self-help alone.190 However there have been relatively few trials that compare such programs with other forms of help. This may be partly because groups take considerable time and effort, while other less demanding methods are now much more readily available and popular.
7.15.3 Other group courses
Group cessation courses have been offered by other commercial and community organisations (e.g. Seventh Day Adventist Church). As a rule, these have not been well evaluated, so it is difficult to comment on their effectiveness. Programs claiming novel methods should be treated with caution until proven to work.
7.15.4 Individual counselling
A review of the evidence on individual counselling concludes that it is more effective than minimal behavioural intervention, although the evidence available to date is insufficient to show that more intense counselling is superior to brief counselling.262 The number of people seeking such help has always been low.
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