Vapers Needed for Studies

University of Leicester: Survey about vaping at the workplace

Two sociologists at the University of Leicester, Dr. Charlotte Smith and Professor Jason Hughes, have been funded by The Tobacco Advisory Group at Cancer Research UK, to analyze how organisations are managing vaping in workplaces and how employees engage in the practice at work.

“Despite being around for well over a decade now, vaping remains in somewhat of a legal, ethical and practical quandary in the UK. It is also a very contentious issue and misinformation often surrounds its health benefits,” said Dr. Smith.

The UK government is renowned for its support of vaping for smoking cessation, and has even released a report asking employers to provide a supportive environment for any smokers seeking to quit their habit via vaping. However, data keeps indicating that many employers have still not implemented policies that support vaping at the workplace.

“The early parts of our study show significant variations in policies across different industries and that there is much confusion generally around its use. However, our key questions remain the same and include: Where do employees vape? When do they vape? Have there been any reactions from fellow colleagues? Who decides where vaping is allowed at work?” said Dr. Smith.

“At the moment we are particularly minded to hear about people’s experiences and thoughts on this, including vapers, non-vapers, smokers and non-smokers as means of being able to inform future policies. We have a ten-minute survey open that can be accessed here. All information will remain anonymous and confidential. It will be open until the 31st of December 2018.”

Queen Mary University: Study on dual users

Professor Peter Hajek is the lead researcher for a study conducted at the Health and Lifestyle Research Unit, at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London.

This study is the first of its kind, and aims to determine how dual use of smoking and vaping develops and what proportion of nicotine such ‘dual users’ get from vaping and from smoking over time.

The researchers will ask interested parties some questions over the phone, after which they will collect a saliva sample by post, at baseline and again at 3 and 6 and 12 months after the initial interview.

Additionally, any smoking participants who wish to receive smoking cessation help, will receive stop-smoking medication and telephone support should they wish it.

Participants for this study must meet the following criteria:

-Are aged 18 years old or over
-Are currently using both EC and C
-Smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day for more than a year before you started using your –EC; and used EC for at least one month
-Want to quit smoking altogether
-Are willing to provide saliva samples and complete follow-up calls at 3, 6 and 12 months.

Anyone interested in taking part is asked to call on 0207 882 5722 (lines are open Monday-Friday, 9-5pm), or email the research team at health-research@qmul.ac.uk