Barriers to Giving Up Smoking

Smoking is such an integral part of life in many Indigenous communities that there are a range of factors which further add to the complexities around quitting. Efforts to intervene upon smoking behaviour will have limited effectiveness unless these interventions take into account the social contexts where smoking behaviour takes place.

These factors include:

The normalisation of smoking in the community - It is difficult for people to quit when the majority of their friends smoke, when they live with other smokers, and when they may not know anyone who has quit successfully. Because so many people smoke, there is no social pressure to quit.

The Culture of Sharing - It is also difficult to be a non-smoker or to quit because of the importance placed on sharing within Aboriginal culture. People share cigarettes with friends and family and it is difficult to say no in this context.

Cultural relevance of current intervention strategies - Public health interventions such as the delivery of cessation advice by health professionals and the use of nicotine replacement therapy are effective at increasing cessation rates. However, little is known about whether such interventions are appropriate and effective for and thus transferable to Aboriginal Australians [12]. There is a major lack of research on and evaluation of tobacco interventions for Indigenous Australians.

Most Indigenous ex-smokers, like other ex-smokers, quit by themselves for health reasons. Continuing smokers are more likely to quit with external support, such as Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) [12]