Combining Individual and Group Counselling Sessions in a Smoking Cessation Intervention

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate if and how the inclusion of group counselling sessions in an individual counselling intervention program affects the participants' effort to give up smoking and adopt a healthier lifestyle by increasing their physical activity. It was also aimed to identify specific techniques, characteristics and qualities of group sessions and also the dynamics of the certain closed but heterogeneous group (all the members started and finished the group meetings together, however they were at a different level of behaviour change). The participants were 5 men and 3 women aged 39 to 47 years. The intervention included 12 individual and 3 group sessions, while the follow up was set to 6 months after the last individual meeting. Individual counselling was person-centered and based on motivational interviewing. Group counselling aimed to communication, acceptance, sharing experiences and feelings among the group members about their common goal. A semi-structured interview was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. According to the results, the inclusion of group sessions contributed positively to the process of smoking cessation. The participants reported that the sense of not being alone and the existence of a safe environment, which was the frame of the team, in which they could express themselves and share knowledge, experiences and emotions, to be very helpful. The different progress levels of the participants seemed to be really helpful for them. Regarding the success rate, 87.5% of the participants (7 out of 8) achieved their goal at the end of the program, while in the follow up there was only one relapse and the effectiveness of the program reached 75%.

Motivational Interviewing for Smoking Cessation and Increase of Physical Activity in Αdults

“…Each counseling session was aiming on certain topics, for example cognitive awareness on issues related to smoking, exploring the reasons of smoking and discussing the possible ways to quit, debate on beliefs about smoking, attitudes and unhealthy behaviors, discussion about the concerns of quitting, positive reframing of past efforts, enhancing self-confidence and self-awareness, stress management, relaxation and visualization techniques, the benefits of exercise on smoking cessation process, techniques to overcome the desire to smoke and addiction symptoms, self-talk, convert negative thoughts into positive, keeping diaries, setting goals, relapse prevention, nutrition and food issues, etc. The structure of the intervention and the materials used are described in detail in previous research (Zisi et al, 2016). At the end of each session, the individualized goals until the next meeting were set.…”

“…Taking into account the results of previous research on the effectiveness of counselling on smoking cessation programs, that used similar intervention methodology (i.e. Zisi et al, 2016), it was hypothesized that: a) The intervention program will enhance the smoking cessation effort; b) the participants who will not succeed in quitting smoking will achieve a significant reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked daily; c) the participants' physical activity will increase; and d) the participants will make substantial changes in everyday life and adopt new behaviors and habits towards a healthier lifestyle and of better quality.…”

“…Counselling holds a central role in interventions aiming in changing health behaviors and it seems that interventions based on counselling, are effective in smoking cessation, either they are short or intensive, combined with other treatment or not (Zisi, Gratsani, Leontari, & Theodorakis, 2016). Even brief counselling cessations have been proved to improve abstinence rates of up to 2.5% as opposed to no counselling at all (Shah, Rao, & Mayo, 2008), to increase the rates of smoking cessation, and to also raise the smokers' mobilization and their chances to enter a cessation process (Pisinger, Vestbo, Borch-Johnsen, Thomsen, & Jorgensen, 2005).…”

Ατομική Συμβουλευτική Για Τη Διακοπή Καπνίσματος Και Την Αύξηση Της Φυσικής Δραστηριότητας

“…The counseling was personcentered based on motivational interviewing (Motivational Interviewing, Miller & Rollnick, 1991). The structure of the intervention and the material used was based on a previous survey (Gratsani, Leontari, Zisi, & Theodorakis, 2016). The program consisted of 12 individual weekly counseling sessions and there was also a 9 month follow up (monthly sessions, weekly telephone calls).…”

“…Κατά την πραγματοποίηση ομάδων συμβουλευτικής, τα μέλη έχουν την ευκαιρία να ανταλλάξουν εμπειρίες και να μοιραστούν συναισθήματα. Έρευνες υποστήριξαν ότι παρουσιάζεται αύξηση στα ποσοστά διακοπής με τη χρήση των ομαδικών προγραμμάτων διακοπής καπνίσματος Zisi, Gratsani, Leontari & Theodorakis, 2016). Ωστόσο, δε λείπουν και έρευνες, οι οποίες υποστήριξαν ότι δεν υπάρχουν σημαντικές διαφορές μεταξύ ατομικών και ομαδικών παρεμβάσεων και ότι κανείς τύπος παρέμβασης δεν είναι περισσότερο αποτελεσματικός από τους υπόλοιπους (Weiss, Jafee, Menil & Cogley, 2004;Ramos et al, 2010;Moller & Tonnesen, 1999) .…”