Nicotine addiction is a public health problem that increases medical
morbidity and mortality. Individuals with mental distress have higher rates of
smoking and poorer cessation outcomes than those without mental distress.
Individuals with schizophrenia tend to smoke more that those with other
diagnostic categories. They are also more likely to smoke high-tar cigarettes
than individuals with other forms of mental distress. They are therefore not
only more likely to be addicted to nicotine, but they are also at an increased
risk of developing serious health complications. Despite these factors,
individuals with schizophrenia are generally unlikely to seek help to quit
smoking, a function of decreased level of motivation and inability to do so.
They are rarely involved in smoking cessation activities.
Against this background, The aim of this study was to explore the
effectiveness of an integrated smoking cessation programme in enabling
service users to stop smoking. This article describes the application of this
programme on service users with schizophrenia and nicotine addiction. It
also describes roles played by its components in smoking cessation
