A Qualitative Study Exploring Smoking Cessation Experiences of People around London South Bank University Who have Stopped Smoking

Aim: To explore, understand and interpret the lived experiences of the smoking cessation process and the meaning participants attach to their experiences of the cessation process. A qualitative exploratory study of the lived experiences of people who have stopped smoking can generate useful information that specifies the supportive factors that can be taken into consideration when planning smoking cessation interventions.

Study Design: A qualitative study design using an interpretive phenomenological approach was adopted in this study to explore the smoking cessation experiences of the participants.

Place and Duration of Study: School of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University, London, UK.

Methodology: An exploratory phenomenological study was conducted with seven participants. A qualitative semi-structured interview guide was developed by the researcher after a preliminary review of significant literatures and in line with other standardised schedules. All face-to-face semi-structured interviews with participants were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. All interview transcripts were analyzed using the interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) method.

Results: Based on IPA method, ten themes emerged and these were put together into two groups. The first group of themes are the participant’s experiences of the smoking cessation process. All the participants narrated experiences of symptoms due to Nicotine withdrawal. Also, experiences of their social environment, relapse as well as loneliness and boredom, emerged as themes. The second group of themes explored how participants made sense of their smoking cessation experiences. All the participants expressed how they made sense of their feelings, understood their situation and coped with their cessation experiences which they termed a difficult process. Also, confidence, self-regulation, motivation, feelings of fear and the importance of time, emerged as themes.

Conclusion and Recommendation: According to participants, the smoking cessation process is a difficult process due to the many challenges and barriers associated with it. Therefore, the importance of self-confidence, motivation and social support cannot be overemphasized for a successful cessation. However, further research is recommended with respect to gender and the smoking cessation process.