Review of Additional Information Sections
1 Review of Additional Worksheets
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Realth Canada Smoking Cessation Study (December 2004)
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Review of Additional Worksheets
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This section reports on participants' impressions of additional worksheets that they reviewed/completed. In addition to the worksheets associated with Creating a quit plan, participants were asked to complete one of the following worksheets:• Problem solving
• What would you buy?
• Dealing with lack of support
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What Would You Buy? Dealing With Lack of Support - Main Worksheets Completed
Nearly all participants chose to complete either 'Dealing with lack of support' or 'What would you buy?', with a few more choosing to complete the former than the latter. Only a couple of participants chose to complete 'Problem solving'. Participants gave the following reasons for choosing the specifie worksheet they completed:
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'Dealing with lack of support'
• Curiosity: The reason given most often for completing this worksheet was curiosity. Sorne said they wondered about the types of issues that this worksheet would deal with.
• Different locus: A few participants said that they chose this worksheet because it focussed on a different dimension or aspect of the effort to try to quit smoking - the social as opposed to personal dimension.
• Fear/apprehension: A few said they chose it out of fear or apprehension at how their friends might react to their attempt to quit smoking. They mentioned that most of their friends and acquaintances were smokers and therefore that issues of this type might conceivably arise.
• Experience: A couple of participants said that their spouses are also smokers and that they have already encountered problems in this regard. They chose this worksheet in the hope of finding specifie strategies to deal with these issues.
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'What would you buy?'• . Curiosity/interest: Sorne participants said they chose this worksheet out of curiosity or interest. However, unlike the curiosity expressed by those who chose to complete 'Dealing with lack of support' (i.e. curiosity about what the worksheet actually dealt with) , these participants (most of them sm ok ers) were curious about finding out what they could buy with the money they now spend on cigarettes.
• Interactive dimension: Sorne participants said they were attracted by the interactive aspect of this worksheet. A couple of participants described it as an interesting way to quantify the amount of cigarettes smoked (i.e. in terms of what you could buy if you stopped). Another described it as a good motivator to quit because it showed how smoking hits people in the pocket book.
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Phoenix Strategie Perspectives Inc. 281
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Healtn Canada Smoking Cessation Study (December 2004)1 1
• Easy: A couple of participants said that it looked like a relatively quick and easy worksheet to complete.
Only two participants chose to complete the 'Problem Solving' worksheet and both explained that they simply chose the first one mentioned in the li st.
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Worksheets Described as Clear & Relatively Easy to Complete
Participants, regardless of the worksheet they completed, described them as clear and easy to complete. Everyone said they clearly understood the purpose of the worksheet and what they were being asked to do. The only di ffi cult y identified pertained to the 'Problem Solving' worksheet and had to do with the lack of space provided for writing.
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'Dealing With Lack of Support' - Less Useful Due to Unrealistic Situations
Participants who completed 'What would you buy?' were much more positive overall than those who completed 'Dealing with lack of support'. Those who completed 'Problem Solving' were also positive in their overall reaction. Reactions to each worksheet are discussed in detail below.
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'What would vou buy?'
All those who completed this worksheet reacted positively to it. Most described it as instructive yet fun at the sarne time. In a more serious vein, a few described it as 'eye opening' and depressing in the sense that it drives home how much money is actually spent on cigarettes.
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Nearly all of those who completed it described it as useful. In explaining why, most.
focussed on the motivation provided by financial considerations in general. A few others said it allows you to prepare a quitting plan based on a concrete achievable goal (e.g.
buying a book or a CD). It was noted, however, that there might be a tendency to 'play' with this worksheet or use it frivolously rather than seriously. As an exarnple, it was noted that someone who smokes 200 packs of cigarettes a day at $5.00 a pack could buy a $150,000 house in 21 weeks.
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A few participants did not view this worksheet as useful or relevant to them. This included former smokers who said that this type of motivation works best for current smokers, and a current smoker who said that he smokes so little that quitting would involve no real financial advantage for him. He added that it might be very useful for heavy smokers.
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There were only a few suggestions for improving this worksheet, all ofwhich build on its interactive features. They included allowing extrapolations over time, providing more options of things to buy, and allowing savings to be calculated for cutting down (i.e. "if someone reduces from X number of cigarettes to X nurnber of cigarettes, they would be able to ... ").
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Phoenix Strategie Perspectives Inc. 291
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Healtl: Canada Smoking Cessation Study (December 2004)
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'Dealing with lack of support'
Most of those who completed this worksheet described it as either unrealistic or not applicable to their own situation. This reaction was based on the perception that people they know are very supportive of such efforts or that people in general would probably not react this way to anyone trying to quit smoking or remain smoke-free. A few specified that the type of behaviour described in the worksheet might possibly manifest itself among adolescents or young smokers for whom it might be "cool" to smoke, but not among adults. That said, a couple of participants who completed this worksheet described it as helpful because they have encountered behaviours like the ones described in the worksheet.
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In light of the fact that most participants who completed this worksheet viewed it as unrealistic, it is not surprising that most also went on to say that it was not useful or relevant to them in terms of helping them develop strategies for quitting smoking/staying smoke-free. It was noted that this worksheet might have been more useful years ago.
However, now that there is so much evidence about the effects of smoking and such a general animus towards smoking in general, it does not seem very relevant.
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That said, a few participants described it as useful because it made them think of ways to react to such behaviour even if unlikely. It was noted that the worksheet is helpful in fostering responses to such behaviour without necessarily alienating the person reacting that way.
Only a few participants made suggestions for improving this worksheet. They included developing more realistic scenarios, and targeting it to youth or adolescent smokers. A few suggested simply cutting it altogether.
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'Problem Solving'
The two participants who completed this worksheet described it as useful in terms of helping them develop strategies for quitting smoking and staying smoke-free. One described it as useful because it was actionable and you could determine the effectiveness of a plan or attempted solution through trial and error (i.e. what happened when the proposed solution was put into action). The second participant described it as useful because it forced people to deal with specifie issues (i.e. problems tend to be specifie not general) and therefore it is very practical.
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Both participants suggested that the worksheet should include more room to write things down. One also suggested that instructions be provided in order to clarify its purpose even more. He also noted that this worksheet does not seem to be referred to often in the various information sections. In fact, he said he remembers seeing it referred to only once, in section C (Dealing with difficult situations), subsection 1 (Dealing witli difficulties) .