“But it’s the Least of Their Problems…” – Barriers to Smoking Cessation in Young People Aged Under 18yrs

Young people aged under 18 experience different tobacco related harms to adults and current smoking cessation treatments and policy are focussed on adults and don’t respond to harms unique to young. This presentation will summarise a qualitative study conducted with clinicians from multiple disciplines and across several settings around the barriers to smoking cessation in young people.

Bec is a Senior Social Worker in the Dovetail Team. Before her work with Dovetail, she supported both young people and adults in her roles as youth worker, family case manager, group work facilitator and alcohol and other drugs counsellor in the not-for-profit sector. Since starting with Dovetail in 2019, Bec has become particularly interested in the topic of nicotine dependence in young people and more recently, the emergence of vaping as a new mode of nicotine delivery.

Karen is a Clinical Psychologist and Board approved supervisor for psychologists. Karen has worked with adults, children, families in areas of community mental health, persistent pain, tobacco cessation and AOD. She has experience with research, giving lectures, group facilitation, counselling and workforce development.