Addressing e-cigarette misperceptions
Team: Olivia Maynard, Claire Garnett, Angela Attwood, Jasmine Khouja
Overview: Many adults who smoke believe that e-cigarettes are just as harmful, or even more harmful, than regular cigarettes. They also worry about the lack of long-term evidence, distrust the science, and fear the risks of nicotine and dependence. However, current evidence shows that e-cigarettes are one of the most effective ways to quit smoking and are far less harmful than traditional cigarettes. Our research aims to understand these misperceptions and concerns about e-cigarettes. With this understanding, we will develop interventions to tackle e-cigarette misinformation and ultimately support smokers in switching to e-cigarettes.
Our research shows that accurate informational campaigns can effectively counter e-cigarette misinformation. We're now working on a method to understand why some smokers choose not to switch to vaping. This will support our efforts to improve the delivery of the UK Government's ‘Swap to Stop’ scheme, which plans to give out 1 million free e-cigarettes to people who smoke. As part of this we’re developing and testing informational materials to go along with the free e-cigarettes, aiming to address common misconceptions and concerns about vaping.
We have created a leaflet and some posters advertising the Swap to Stop scheme and addressing concerns about vaping. As part of this we’re developing and testing informational materials (see in the right column) to go along with the free e-cigarettes, aiming to address common misconceptions and concerns about vaping. We are very happy for these to be used by others (either for research or in practice). Please contact Olivia.Maynard@bristol.ac.uk if you would like to use any of these materials. We would be happy to add your logo and/or edit these to suit your requirements.