The WhyKwit study aimed to investigate what motivates Māori, Pacific Island and low socio-economic smokers to quit. Thirty-five structured focus groups (total N=211) were conducted (Sept 2009-Feb  2010) with Māori, Pacific Island, and lower SES mixed ethnicity groups of smokers and ex-smokers. Robert West’s P.R.I.M.E. Theory of Addiction and its related 3 T’s (triggers, tensions, treatments) model was combined with  Te Whare Tapa Wha, a Māori health model and a Pacific health model: The Fonofale to analyse our data.

Sets of opposing motivational forces (tensions) to stop or continue smoking and triggers that prompted quit attempts or relapse were identified. Motivation to stop smoking ebbed and flowed depending on the intensity of the forces smokers were exposed to in various contexts in their lives, and how these interacted with their circumstances at any given moment. The analogy of the game of Snakes and Ladders is used to convey the findings.

The Snakes & Ladders analogy is a useful vehicle to transfer knowledge about motivation to lay audiences.   

For a pdf of the full report, please contact Dr Marewa Glover m.glover@auckland.ac.nz

This research was undertaken in partnership with Pacific Health, University of Auckland, and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). WhyKwit was funded by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Ministry of Health