Healthcare & other partners

Your clients want to quit smoking – we can help. The job of every Smokers’ Helpline Quit Coach is to work one-on-one to help create a quit plan that works for each client. We’ll talk about things like managing cravings, quit aids, help find local support, and we’ll even call to follow up if wanted.

The result? Smokers’ Helpline phone clients are up to 8 times more likely to be smoke-free after 6 months than quitters who go it alone. Quit Coaches at Smokers' Helpline help clients thinking about quitting, ready to quit, actively quitting, needing help staying smoke-free, not ready to quit or who want to help someone else quit.

Service is available in English and French and over 100 languages through an interpreter.

Smokers' Helpline Quit Connection is a referral program that can be used on its own or as a positive adjunct to clinician intervention. The Quit Connection Program eliminates the need for patients or clients to call Smokers' Helpline. Instead, a Smokers' Helpline Quit Coach will contact the tobacco user to provide counseling.

1. Ask about smoking status at every client visit
2. Introduce Smokers' Helpline to your smoking clients
3. Gain and document consent for Smokers' Helpline to contact your client
4. Submit an online referral or fax a completed Quit Connection referral form
5. Your client will receive a phone call within a few days from a Quit Coach at Smokers’ Helpline to initiate service

Smokers' Helpline can provide materials and educational support to help integrate cessation into your practice.

"Telephone quitline counseling is effective with diverse populations and has broad reach. Therefore, clinicians and healthcare delivery systems should both ensure patient access to quitlines and promote quitline use."

Clinical Practice Guideline Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence 2008 Update Panel, Liaisons, and Staff (2008). A clinical practice guideline for treating tobacco use and dependence: 2008 update. A U.S. Public Health Service report. American journal of preventive medicine, 35(2), 158-76.

Registering at SmokersHelpline.ca gives clients access to their own personal Quit Plan based on our One Step at a Time self-guided book series. They can complete these exercises as they prepare to quit, and continue to reference them as they go smoke-free.

Their personal quit calculator shows them the money they'll save by quitting for concrete motivation, and their dashboard will show them the health benefits they gain over time.

Our online community of quitters and Quit Coaches is available 24/7 for peer and professional support and encouragement. Supportive e-mail is available with exercises and motivational content tailored to a client's quit date, providing advice about symptoms and difficulties at key points.

From SmokersHelpline.ca, clients can also request a call from a Quit Coach, register for Smokers' Helpline text support with live Quit Coach chat (in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan), or download One Step at a Time booklets for additional support as they need it.

"In combined results, Internet programmes that were interactive and tailored to individual responses led to higher quit rates than usual care or written self-help at six months or longer."

Taylor GMJ, Dalili MN, Semwal M, Civljak M, Sheikh A, Car J. Internet‐based interventions for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2017, Issue 9. Art. No.: CD007078. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD007078.pub5.

Support on the go with text messages customized to quit date or a separate stream for those just thinking about quitting. Keywords provide additional automated help when clients need it the most, and for one-on-one support, chat with a live Quit Coach is available during our business hours.

To register on a mobile phone in Ontario, Saskatchewan or Manitoba:

1. Enter the phone number 123456
2. Type the message iQUIT
3. Press send
4. Respond with whether you are ready to quit or thinking of quitting
   
5. Choose a program stream to join (Quitting Smoking, Quitting Vaping or Quitting Both Smoking and Vaping)

Members of SmokersHelpline.ca can also register for text support from their online dashboard

Tailored to the client's quit journey

We have updated and expanded our text program to have three program streams with tailored messages based on the clients quit journey, whether that includes:
- Quitting Smoking
- Quitting Vaping
- Quitting Smoking and Vaping.

Scheduled messages

Text messages will start arriving daily and slow down as clients need less support. If a past or future quit date is set, these messages will deal with the symptoms and problems the client is dealing with at every step. For those still thinking about quitting, or after a slip and not ready to quit again, set your status to thinking and we will help get you there.

Text Keywords

Clients are able to text keywords for extra help when they need it the most, we’ll respond quickly with a recommendation on how to deal effectively with the craving. The following is a list of available keywords.

- STOP – stop text program
- QUITDATE – choose or change your quit date
- CRAVING – info about coping with cravings
- ALCOHOL – info about drinking and staying quit
- SLIP – info about slips
- RELAPSE – info about relapses
- STRESS – info about coping with stress

Live chat with a Quit Coach

Our Quit Coaches are here to help when clients have a question about withdrawal or need somebody to help them through a tough craving. During Smokers' Helpline business hours, registered Text Support users can  text one-on-one with a Quit Coach for personal craving support. After registration, clients can text CHAT to start a one-on-one session and text HOURS for chat hours of operation.

"When the information from all the studies were combined, smokers who received the support programmes were around 1.7 times more likely to stay quit than smokers who did not receive the programmes (9.3% quit with programmes compared with 5.6% quit with no programmes). Most of the studies were of programmes relying mainly on text messages."

Whittaker R, McRobbie H, Bullen C, Rodgers A, Gu Y. Mobile phone-based interventions for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016, Issue 4. Art. No.: CD006611. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD006611.pub4  

Designed to help smokers and health professionals find up to date smoking cessation support services, Quitmap.ca informs and refers clients to smoking cessation programs and support services for their own specific needs and their preferred geographic location.

This tool is also used by Smokers' Helpline Quit Coaches to help smokers create their personalized quit plan, which can include directing them to appropriate community-based smoking cessation services in their area.

"research suggests that many smokers may be unaware of effective cessation methods and most underestimate their benefit. Further, this lack of knowledge may represent a significant barrier to treatment adoption."

Hammond, D. , McDonald, P. W., Fong, G. T. and Borland, R. (2004), Do smokers know how to quit? Knowledge and perceived effectiveness of cessation assistance as predictors of cessation behaviour. Addiction, 99: 1042-1048. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2004.00754.x

Whether you want to quit, want to help somebody quit, or just want more information - start here. These free books have been reviewed by independent experts and are based on the best available science about quitting smoking

For people who smoke and may or may not be ready to quit

Information, activities and tools to help you think about why you smoke, and guide you through the process of quitting. Download now or call us for a free copy.

Help Someone Quit Smoking

Tools and strategies for friends and family who want to help someone quit smoking. Download now or call us for a free copy.

"Printed self-help materials are part of standard practice for most smoking cessation interventions in Ontario and can have a broad reach depending on how they are promoted. Based on the summary of evidence, self-help materials are effective (especially when tailored) to increase smoking cessation when compared to no materials, but do not increase effectiveness compared to other interventions, such as advice from health care professionals and NRT. This option is best when few resources are available and when incorporated into a comprehensive tobacco control strategy as an easy program delivery tool (e.g., family doctors giving pamphlets with smoking cessation information)."

Smoke-Free Ontario Scientific Advisory Committee, Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (Public Health Ontario). Evidence to guide action: comprehensive tobacco control in Ontario (2016)pg. 344. Toronto, ON: Queen's Printer for Ontario; 2017.