Stress is inevitable, and as people age, they have more stressors which have physical and emotional effects (Yang et al, 2003). Preventive measures and the learning of coping methods can reduce the effects of stress and adverse health problems.
The message that tobacco use does not lessen stress but actually increases it needs to be publicised, as this may help many people to stop smoking, keep former smokers who have recently quit from relapsing, and help more young people to withstand the social pressures put upon them to try cigarettes.
The decision as to what intervention to use to address smoking cessation, and how to implement it, becomes one of cost-effectiveness and health economics. One-to-one or group interventions may significantly reduce a patient’s risk of disease, but this will have a negligible effect on the population’s level of disease.
For this reason, approaches that address the population may be considered cost-effective, while individual interventions are seen as outcome-effective. The best approach is to combine the two, targeting high-risk individuals with individual counselling while exposing the population to media and environmental manipulations, such as TV advertising.