Reducing or quitting smoking
Tobacco contains more than 4,000 harmful chemicals. Most regular smokers would prefer not to smoke and only continue because they are addicted to nicotine. UWS supports the efforts of staff and students to make positive changes to their health and lifestyle by reducing or quitting smoking.
Quitting smoking at any age brings major and immediate health benefits:
Staff seeking assistance to reduce or quit smoking can access free, confidential counselling via the Employee Assistance Program (opens in a new window). To make an appointment, call 1800 81 87 28 and mention you are from the University of Western Sydney.
Students can contact UWS Counselling Service (opens in a new window) or Student Welfare Service (opens in a new window) for advice and assistance. To make an appointment with a Counsellor, call 9852 5199 or email counselling@uws.edu.au
The following Counselling Service and Student Welfare Service staff have completed smoking cessation training by NSW Health:
Good reasons to quit
Quitting smoking at any age brings major and immediate health benefits:
- 20 minutes after quitting your heart rate drops.
- 12 hours later the carbon monoxide level in your blood reduces dramatically.
- After a year, your risk of life threatening coronary heart disease is halved compared to those who continue to smoke.
Individual counselling service
Staff seeking assistance to reduce or quit smoking can access free, confidential counselling via the Employee Assistance Program (opens in a new window). To make an appointment, call 1800 81 87 28 and mention you are from the University of Western Sydney.
Students can contact UWS Counselling Service (opens in a new window) or Student Welfare Service (opens in a new window) for advice and assistance. To make an appointment with a Counsellor, call 9852 5199 or email counselling@uws.edu.au
The following Counselling Service and Student Welfare Service staff have completed smoking cessation training by NSW Health:
- Bankstown campus: Anne Abbey, Lyn Anthony, Katherine Bland
- Campbelltown campus: Kerry Fielding, Trish Thornell, Carmel Votano
- Hawkesbury campus: Nicole Church
- Parramatta campus: Donna Morris, Ed Spalding, Melissa Bisoglio
- Penrith campus: Erin Mitchell, Chris Manning, Danielle Holmes
Other resources and support
- Are you addicted to nicotine? Take the online test and access a range of resources on the UWS Tobacco webpage (opens in a new window).
- The NSW Health Quitline is a free, confidential telephone-based service to help smokers quit. Call 137 848 to talk to an advisor and receive a free Quit Kit, or visit the Quit now website (opens in a new window).
- The Cancer Institute of NSW has a range of resources available on the I Can Quit website (opens in a new window), including My Journey, which provides online, guided support.
- There are a range of pharmaceutical products that can improve your chances of success in quitting smoking. These include nicotine replacement therapies, such as patches, gum, lozenges and inhalers. Patches can be prescribed by your doctor and purchased at subsidised rates. Other products include medications such as bupropion (Zyban) and varenicline (Champix). Please contact your doctor to discuss whether any of these options are suitable for you.
