A natural app-titude for helping smokers quit

Louise Ross knows that quitting smoking need not be hard and painful…now she has to convince smokers this is true.

Words: Patrick Griffin

n Twitter she is known by the username @grannylouisa.

But for many grateful former smokers, she is the person who helped them successfully quit.

During a successful career as manager of the Stop Smoking Service in Leicester, she and her team helped thousands of people give up combustible tobacco and switch to vaping or other less harmful alternatives.

Now retired, she still devotes huge amounts of her time to tobacco harm reduction and has no intention of slowing down.

In fact she is playing a key role in helping advise millions of smokers around the world how best to stop.

She is the business development manager for the Smoke Free app, where she trains and manages a team of advisers providing 24/7 on-demand help to anyone who wants to quit.

I caught up with Louise shortly before she was due to take part in a live panel discussion at London’s World Vape Show in December.

The vape advocate - who is also the Interim Chair of the New Nicotine Alliance - said: “For many people it is painful and hard for them to stop smoking and I see my job as letting them know that they don’t have to suffer.

“The problem is that nicotine has been demonised for so long that many see it as the devil they have to fear.

“I am so happy to have shown so many smokers that vaping can help them quit painlessly. I often say it works like an anaesthetic to take the pain of stopping smoking away. Now working with the Smoke Free app, she can spread her message wide and far.

More than six million people have downloaded the app in 200 countries and it has picked up in excess of 175,000 five star ratings. Louise is responsible for recruiting and training the advisers who help smokers on their quitting journey.

She said: “It is very important that smokers feel they have someone to talk to when they need help and encouragement. There are also heaps of excellent features to use.

“For many they just want reassurance that they are doing the right thing especially when there is so much bad science and baseless scare stories about vaping constantly in the media.

“The app costs about the same per month as a single pack of cigarettes and helps people track their progress, see how much money they have saved as well as the health benefits they will get from quitting.”

She described many smokers as ‘vape curious’ because they were interested in switching but did not have the confidence or knowledge to know how to start.

“The great thing about the app is that smokers can ask an adviser how they can quit and they will be given knowledgable and impartial help to allow them to do just that,” she said

“I get so much pleasure helping smokers quit and with so much help out there for them now, it is just a matter of knowing where to look.”

The ‘Smoke Free - Quit Smoking Now’ app is available for download on the App Store and Google Play. Smoke Free - Quit Smoking Now (smokefreeapp.com)

The problem is that nicotine has been

demonised for so long that many see it as the devil they have to fear.