New and fully updated edition!
Healthcare professionals have an important role to play in ensuring that people who smoke have accurate information about vaping founded upon evidence.
But we also need to remember to ask questions of, and listen to, people who vape and this briefing carries this message alongside reviewing the evidence on effectiveness and safety of vaping, and addressing some of the issues that have been raised about the use of vapes.
Vaping has a role in helping people who smoke to quit, reduce the harm from smoking, and manage temporary abstinence.
"I must say I am very impressed by the guide. It's so full of common sense and empathy.”
Ex-smoker who quit by switching to vaping
Providing guidance to clients who ask about stopping vaping
When supporting clients who want to stop vaping, our priority should always be to ensure that clients who stop vaping do not return to smoking cigarettes. NICE recommends that people should use vapes for as long as they help prevent them going back to smoking.
It is important to assess why clients want to stop vaping and their risk of relapse, and to plan and prepare appropriately to stop vaping either gradually or in one step.
When working with clients who want to stop vaping, it can be useful to organise support using the Ask, Advise, Act model.
Update: 1st November 2022
With thanks to Matthew Seal, Stop Smoking Team Lead at Lewisham Stop Smoking Service, we have now added guidance on options to reduce for clients using single-use vapes on page 10 of the briefing.
Update: 18th February 2023
On page 11 we have included information on the Nicorette products that are now licensed for assisting people to stop vaping.
These resources are designed to complement our online training module: NCSCT Swap-to-Stop training module.
The Swap-to-Stop briefing below summarises the Swap-to-Stop scheme with case studies from organisations who have implemented it.
Swap-to-Stop: a memory jogger (see below) lays out the main components of Very Brief Advice on Smoking (VBA+) as it relates to the scheme, with typical questions from clients and suggested answers.
Below are links to additional resources to support the delivery of the Swap-to-Stop scheme:
The Cessation of Smoking Trial in the Emergency Department (COSTED) trial was a major randomised controlled trial, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, to definitively test the COSTED intervention. It demonstrated that the intervention was effective at supporting people to switch away from smoking tobacco.
The COSTED intervention includes:
Until recently, research into the effectiveness of e-cigarettes within local stop smoking services was lacking.
This briefing provides a summary of the findings from the Trial of E-Cigarettes (TEC) research project that was carried out in stop smoking services in London, Leicester and East Sussex. The briefing also includes recommendations for stop smoking services on providing starter packs, and questions and answers on some of the key issues.
Date of last review: March 2025
Vape shops can be a source of information about new products, regulation, costs and technical support.
This guide covers: