Housing evidence / case study · working draft
SCeTCH: Smoking Cessation Trial in Centres for Homelessness
Homelessness-centre staff offered vape kits in a GB trial that included four Welsh centres.
01 / THE APPROACH
What was tried
SCeTCH took cessation research into homelessness services across Great Britain. Thirty-two centres participated, including four in Wales and six in Scotland. Centres were allocated either to offer a refillable e-cigarette with four weeks of liquid or to give brief advice and signposting.
Centre staff delivered the offer, bringing it into a setting participants already used rather than requiring a separate clinic visit. Researchers assessed smoking reduction and both recent and sustained quitting over 24 weeks. Of 477 people recruited, 475 were included in the analysis.
02 / THE FINDINGS
What was learned
Five of 239 people in the vape group (2.1%) and two of 236 in usual care (0.8%) met the sustained, breath-test-verified quitting outcome. The difference was inconclusive.
A different measure (no smoking in the previous seven days at week 24) was higher with vaping: 6.3% versus 2.1%. This distinction matters: some people changed their smoking, but few remained abstinent throughout the longer period. The findings describe the whole trial, not Welsh centres separately.
03 / TRANSFER TO WALES
What Wales could learn
Homelessness-centre staff delivered a refillable device and four weeks of liquid within services people already used. Delivery involved staff training and a dependable supply process.
Recent quitting improved, but sustained abstinence remained low. The practical lesson is that easy access to a product and continuing support for long-term change are different challenges.
Sources & review
Dawkins et al., BMC Medicine 23:394 (2025), DOI 10.1186/s12916-025-04167-y. Public primary paper checked 22 October 2026, pp.1–2. Wales marker represents participation, not a centre address.
