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Written By: Admin | Updated : April 30, 2013 5:42 PM IST
A review on Annals of Internal Medicine reports that a mass emotional ad campaign titled "Tips from former smokers", launched by the Centers for Disease Control earlier this year has helped smokers quit their unhealthy habit. The survey considered respondents' awareness of the campaign, as well as their attitudes toward smoking cessation and second-hand smoke exposure. Non-smokers were asked if they had encouraged friends or family members to quit.
"Emotive personal testimonials and narratives are powerful strategies for reaching and influencing the broad population of smokers. Emotionally laden stories show the risks of tobacco use in a far more potent way than abstract information can," the researchers wrote. "The idea was to increase smokers' sense of personal vulnerability to serious disease and increase their sense of urgency for quitting," they wrote.
"The campaign's approach - personal, emotionally fraught stories paired with a place to turn to for tangible help - are a potent mix and grounded in health communication research" wrote Rigotti and Wakefield. According to them, involving actual people in the stories reduces the tendency for smokers to generate counterarguments or discount adverse health outcomes as uncommon among the smokers whom they know.
Calls to a national quit line had more than doubled and hits on the smoking cessation website tripled during the 3 months that the ads aired on TV, radio and social media, , according to Nancy Rigotti, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, and Melanie Wakefield, PhD, of the Cancer Council Victoria in Australia. Former real smokers who were now living with the consequences of smoking were the stars of the ads.
In India, last year the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched a mass media campaign on bidi smoking and its association with cardiovascular diseases under the National Tobacco Control Programme.All cigarette packets manufactured in India should carry a pictorial warning covering 40 per cent of its front space as per an order of the Supreme Court of India.
Tips to quit smoking
