Brief opportunistic smoking cessation advice for financially vulnerable Individuals accessing financial support: a randomised controlled trial
Tobacco addiction
This is a randomised controlled trial to assess the effects of very brief, opportunistic, smoking cessation advice compared to usual care, provided by financial guidance services to adults receiving support for financial difficulties who smoke tobacco. The aim is to recruit 1,538 people (769 in each arm) from financial advice services like food banks, Job Centres, and Citizens Advice across England, Scotland, and Wales. Participants are expected to be involved for about 9 months, with a longer-term follow up of 9 months. Participants will be randomised 1:1 to the intervention or usual care. Randomisation will take place electronically through an online database. The intervention group will receive opportunistic, very brief advice on smoking, including information on the best ways to quit and providing and referring participants to relevant support. A nicotine e-cigarette will be provided alongside information on behavioural support available, including free access to a stop smoking app if preferred. Those in usual care (the control) will receive no further intervention after being asked about their smoking in-line with usual care for this setting in the UK. There will be a qualitative process evaluation. This will involve audio-recorded interviews with about 30 participants and 20 financial services advisors about their experiences with the intervention. There will also be a conversation analysis of about 350 financial advice service sessions to identify if: the intervention is delivered as intended; common pitfalls which may hinder delivery; and how these might be best managed or avoided. There will also be approximately 100 control group consultations for fidelity testing.
1. Able to give informed consent to participate. 2. Adults aged 18 years or over regardless of if they have any medical conditions or if they are pregnant. 3. Currently receiving advice or support for financial difficulties by financial guidance services. 4. Self-reported daily tobacco smoking, regardless of motivation to quit smoking. 5. People who can provide a phone number and/or email address and a postal address to be contacted at, for the purposes of follow-up.
1. People using only smokeless tobacco, heated tobacco, shisha, cannabis, or non-tobacco nicotine products like e-cigarettes or nicotine pouches. People using these products alongside daily tobacco smoking will still be eligible. 2. Only one person per household may be enrolled