Resources to support practice
Here you'll find resources developed by the Mental Health and Smoking Partnership for those working in mental health inpatient and community settings.
You can view resources relating to the NHS Long Term Plan's commitment to support people with mental health conditions stop smoking here.
Resources for inpatient settings
Short training guide for mental health professionals
This 2-page training guide for mental health professionals sets out each professional groups’ responsibilities in the stop smoking pathway and examples of appropriate training.
Evidence into practice briefing - NICE Guidance PH48
This evidence into practice briefing sets out evidence, case studies and lessons for practice on the implementation of smokefree policies in line with NICE PH48 in mental health trusts. It also directs readers to further resources that provide advice and guidance on issues such as prescribing of pharmacotherapy, commissioning in line with smokefree policies and staff training.
View and download here
Smokefree Q&A: What should you be asking your Trust?
This Q&A document sets out key questions to assess your trust’s progress towards supporting service users to quit smoking in line with NICE guidance PH48.
'Quit smoking' poster for inpatient settings
This poster describes effective ways to help service users quit smoking and should be displayed in staff areas of inpatient settings.
View and download here
7 tips for helping smokers with mental health problems quit
This Mental Health & Smoking Partnership resource sets out 7 tips for helping smokers with mental health problems quit for good. These tips were developed by Rethink expert by experience, Hannah Moore, based on her personal experience of quitting smoking as a mental health service user.
Resources for community settings
Leaflet for service users: quitting smoking
This short leaflet sets out key information on smoking for people with mental health conditions, including the benefits of being smokefree and the support they should be offered by the community mental health team to help them quit.
Briefing for professionals: Supporting service users to quit
This short brief provides information for mental health professionals on supporting smokers to quit, including addressing some common misconceptions.
Tobacco dependency community-based services for people with severe mental illness: An evaluation of NHS early implementer sites
The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) was commissioned by NHS England to capture learning and good practice from early implementer sites of the NHS Long Term Plan commitments to provide community-based tobacco dependency support for those with severe mental illness. This report details recommendations to support other sites to mobilise community-based tobacco dependency services in the future.
Training resources
Mental Health and Smoking Partnership Training Guide
This 2-page training guide for mental health professionals sets out each professional groups’ responsibilities in the stop smoking pathway and examples of appropriate training.
National Centre for Smoking Cessation and Training e-learning and briefings:
- NHS community mental health tobacco treatment training suite
- E-learning: mental health specialty module
- Briefing: Smoking cessation and smokefree policies - Good practice for mental health services
NHS-NCSCT Two-day specialist courses in tobacco dependence treatment for Community Mental Health
NHS and NCCST will run four two-day training courses in 2023/2024 for tobacco dependence advisors who are part of the NHS Early Implementer Sites for Community Mental Health pathway. For more information on courses and to register please contact: Tom Coleman (Tom@ncsct.co.uk)
Additional resources
- NCSCT - NHS Community Mental Health Tobacco Treatment Training Resources
- NCSCT - Mental Health Specialty Module
- British Thoracic Society - Respiratory Futures
- Smoking and mental health – A joint report by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Psychiatrists
- NICE Guidance NG209 - Tobacco: preventing uptake, promoting quitting and treating dependence
- Mental Health and Smoking Partnership Evidence into Practice briefing: Smoking: Acute, maternity and mental health services NICE Guidance PH48
- The ASH smoking and mental health factsheet
- Mental health, smoking and poverty in the UK – This report, by Dr Tessa Langley of the University of Nottingham, quantifies the extent to which smoking exacerbates poverty in adults with mental health conditions in the UK
- ASH smoking and mental health survey 2016 – This report examines the results of surveys which explored the attitudes of people with mental health conditions to smoking and the views of staff working with people with mental health conditions