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Tobacco and poverty activists have come together to demand that smokers have "alternative coping strategies" when they stop smoking.
Research conducted by the Poverty Alliance and Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) Scotland found that people living in poverty are more likely to smoke because they are more vulnerable to stress and less likely to have access to others. coping mechanisms.
Sheila Duffy, Executive Director of Ash Scotland, said, "We are all too familiar with the harmful effects of smoking and most smokers say they want to quit.
"But we must listen to the voices of those affected by smoking so that health campaigns and support services can be better tailored to the needs, experiences and perceptions of those affected.
"Smokers do not want to tell them what to do, but they do not want the harms and costs badociated with smoking.
"By understanding and working together, health and poverty groups will be better positioned to learn what really works."
A report by both organizations contains a series of recommendations that go beyond simply "asking people to stop smoking" by helping them find alternative coping strategies.
It is also recommended that more positive messages encourage smokers to quit, emphasizing "supporting people rather than taking something away from them".
Organizations want strategies to fight against tobacco and poverty and for better collaboration between health and poverty groups.
Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance, added: "People living in poverty face pressures that limit their choices and prevent them from controlling.
"While a minority of people living in poverty-affected areas actually smoke, the health and financial impacts are disproportionately imposed on them.
"It is necessary to recognize that smoking is a burden for people living in poverty, not support – but to respond to it, we need to understand the context in which people live and listen to the voices of people living in poverty. valid needs and wishes that they seek to answer. "
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