This is the best digital stop smoking program
Smoking is the biggest avoidable health risk in Germany. And yet many people can hardly wait to light up their next cigarette, even though they actually want to quit. If your own willpower is not enough, digital stop-smoking programs can help. Warentest has tried them out.
Smoking kills, is expensive and an addiction. All good reasons to stop smoking - actually. The following definition may explain why many smokers still don't manage to give it up: In medicine, addiction is the irrefutable desire for a certain state of experience. The powers of the mind are subordinated to this desire.
Which of course only helps those affected to a limited extent. Just like the admonitions and appeals from friends, family and colleagues. Or the state. On the one hand, the latter is keen to ensure that its tax-paying citizens remain healthy and productive, but on the other, it is happy to profit from the compulsive vice of smokers in the form of taxes. Well, the situation is similar with alcohol.
Apart from that, there are of course many aids to help smokers quit smoking, such as nicotine replacement products. And digital stop-smoking programs also promise support. Stiftung Warentest examined 14 of these - 6 as an app for Android and 8 as a website in the browser. For those with statutory health insurance, three months of use after diagnosis or on prescription is usually free of charge. Self-payers, on the other hand, have to fork out 389 euros for the most expensive program.
Only three are convincing
The testers used a psychologist and a psychotherapist, who used the programs undercover, to review the offers. They used their own research and studies provided by the providers to check how effectively the programs can help. Only programs that responded as individually as possible to users were selected for the test. For example, with personalized objectives, motivational and relaxation exercises via video or audio, games to distract the user and forums for discussion.
Result: Only three offers convinced the product test: in particular the two "non-smoking heroes" programs from Sanero Medical (app score 1.8, browser version 2.3). According to the test, the programs scored points for their sensible concept and well-documented effectiveness. But the app from "Smoke Free 23" (2.4) is also worth a try.
Like other products in the test, the programs are based on cognitive behavioral therapy. This involves questioning one's smoking behavior, breaking down the associated thought patterns and replacing them with behavior that the (former) smoker ultimately experiences as positive. The programs are free of charge for those with statutory health insurance after diagnosis or on prescription. Private health insurance companies cover the costs on request.
In contrast, the "Stop Smoking" app, the "Stop-Simply" website and the smoke-free quit program of the Federal Centre for Health Education (BZGA), which is part of the Federal Ministry of Health's portfolio, are only "adequate". The concepts are therefore in need of improvement and there is a lack of scientific studies on their effectiveness.
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Consumers who are struggling to quit smoking may find assistance from digital stop-smoking programs, as Stiftung Warentest discovered. However, only three out of the 14 programs examined by the foundation were found to be effective in aiding smokers to quit, with the "non-smoking heroes" programs from Sanero Medical scoring particularly highly. Despite the benefits of these programs, it's crucial for consumers to be aware of potential health hazards associated with smoking and seek advice from medical professionals when considering quitting. The Federal Ministry of Health also offers a quit-smoking program, but its effectiveness needs improvement, according to Stiftung Warentest's assessment.
Source: www.ntv.de
