Voucher plan for pregnant smokers
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/shropshire/7673284.stm Version 0 of 1. Pregnant women who smoke may be offered vouchers to encourage them to give up under proposals by an NHS trust. Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust said plans would include women being tested to ensure they had given up. Dr Kevin Lewis, from the trust, said studies had shown people needed motivation to help them give up smoking. He said simply highlighting the dangers of smoking in pregnancy was not always enough to make people give up. The move was "approved in principle" at a trust board meeting on Tuesday, but members asked for more information about how it would work, a spokesman for the trust said. We are dealing with an addiction and we are dealing with human behaviour Dr Kevin Lewis Dr Lewis said: "One of these motivators can be in the form of rewards. "It might be something like a £5 gift voucher - and they receive these if they maintain quitting from smoking and that would be tested to make sure that they have." He said tests included carbon monoxide monitoring, such as a breath test which showed if someone had recently smoked. Urine and saliva tests were also among those carried out. "You would think, that after all the knowledge there is out there now about the health risks from smoking - not only to yourself but also to the unborn child - that that would be enough to motivate people. "But we are dealing with an addiction and we are dealing with human behaviour and we just know from the studies that people are often not as motivated by the benefits to future health as they are by the here and now." A trust spokesman said the idea was put forward because similar schemes had proved successful elsewhere in the UK. Focus groups He said research by the trust also suggested it could work and in one focus group of pregnant smokers, 13 out of 15 women suggested vouchers would be a good incentive to give up. Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) welcomed the plan. Martin Dockrell, policy manager with the anti-smoking group, said: "It's a very interesting project working with a group who are finding it particularly difficult to quit smoking." He said to get these mothers-to-be at a "critical time" could have huge benefits. "It could improve the health of the mother and dramatically improve the health of the baby and also produce big savings for the NHS." He said the scheme would need to be evaluated to chart its success. More details about the proposal will be presented at a trust board meeting later this year. |