Quitting
Quitting smoking is hard work but you and/or your family and friends don’t have to do it alone. Quitting is likely to be more successful with help from a quitting service and support from friends and family.
If you are thinking about quitting, working to be smokefree, or have relapsed - you've come to the right place. There is lots of help available to make it easier for you to become smokefree.
Face-to-face
There are lots of face-to-face quitting services you can choose from:
- Health centres and local GPs can provide you with support and advice to help you quit.
- Aukati KaiPaipa is a kanohi ki te kanohi (face-to-face) service that is delivered locally within many communities. It is a programme that provides one-on-one counselling to help people quit smoking. Although developed for Māori women and their whānau, it is open to everyone.
- The Tala Pasifika website has a Pacific directory as well as information on quitting specific to Pacific peoples.
- Asian Smokefree Communities provides a free service for Asian people living in the North Shore.
- The Smokefree Contacts Map has information on local services that are available.
Phone
The Quitline provides a free quit smoking telephone helpline and website.
You can request a quit pack, which has practical quit smoking advice and information, talk to a Quit Advisor for one-on-one support or get exchange cards for subsidised nicotine patches or gum where suitable.
Call 0800 778 778 to speak to a Quit Advisor.
Download The Quit Book... [PDF, 4.9MB]
Txt/Mobile
Getting txt messages can help keep your motivation up and give you some advice and support along the way as you quit.
Sign up for Txt2Quit and you'll get free txt messages to support you while you are quitting. Txt2Quit runs for 26 weeks and is ideally suited to 16 to 24-year-olds, but anyone can use it.
Online/Internet
Goalpost makes those tough life-changing goals easier by connecting you with friends and supporters, and expert advice. Goalpost helps keep you motivated with fun stuff like challenges, incentives and rewards. Sign up and give it a go. It's free!
Smokestop is a three-month programme consisting of a series of sessions, each lasting 10-15 minutes. By working through the sessions you will be fully prepared for quit day and have effective strategies to stay smokefree. Smokestop also provides essential support throughout your journey to become smokefree including email, text messages, live chat and a forum.
The QuitBlog is hosted by The Quit Group and allows people trying to quit to share their experiences with others. It is free to join and helps you connect with people going through the same experiences.
Supporting others
Helping people to stop smoking is an online e-learning module that will show you how you can offer your support and point people in the direction of methods that will increase their chances of quitting for good.
The module gives you some background about smoking so you can understand what makes people smoke and why they find it so hard to give up. It also gives you some practical information and tips on what you can do to get a person the right support they need to quit.
Visit the site now and sign up - anyone can do it - it's not just for health workers.
