The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) have published a report ‘Health on the High Street: Running on Empty’, a follow up report to the original ‘Health on the High Street’ published in 2015.
The recent follow up has identified vape shops as a factor which adds to the health of the surrounding community as they promote a healthier lifestyle.
About The Report
The initial report developed a ‘Richter Scale of Health’ which is used to measure the healthiness of the outlets present on a high street. This scale has been used to accumulate a list of the healthiest and unhealthiest high streets in the UK and London, taking into account outlets considered bad for health such as tanning salons, fast food outlets and payday lenders; and those considered good for health such as leisure centres, libraries and pharmacies.
The recent report was produced to include changes to the high street that have occurred over the past few years, such as the addition of vape shops and the loss of many high street stores resulting in vacant lots.
The different outlets are scored against 4 areas of health, for each of which they can either earn up to 2 marks or lose up to 2 marks; healthy/healthier choices, social interaction, access to services and advice, and mental wellbeing. The highest scoring outlets are leisure centres, scoring a total of 7, and the lowest scoring are high cost credit outlets scoring -4.
Vape shops were scored at a respectable 3 marks overall, achieving a point in each of the areas healthy/healthier choices, social interaction and mental wellbeing. In the few years between the first report and the second, the number of bricks and mortar vape stores has doubled from 1000 to 2000, equivalent to one new vape shop every day! The report has grown to include vape shops as researchers wanted to acknowledge the benefits of making the switch from smoking to vaping, and the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as a stop smoking aid;
‘Overall, vape shops are providing a setting that on balance supports many people every year in their efforts to make a positive change to quit smoking. The health and wellbeing benefits of a successful quit attempt are extensive and well documented.
This is the case not just for physical but mental health as well, despite popular misconceptions that poor mental health is exacerbated by quitting smoking. In fact, smoking cessation has been shown to improve positive mood and quality of life as well as reduce depression, anxiety and stress – and appears to do so at least as effectively as antidepressants.’
What Does This Mean For Vaping?
Being recognised as having a positive effect on health, and playing a part in raising the ‘healthiness’ of high streets, can only help spread awareness of e-cigarettes as a healthier lifestyle choice and effective smoking cessation tool.
It is even recognised in the report that vape shops have taken on a somewhat social centre aspect as well, with many shops having seating areas and even coffee shops.
The report states that staff tend to be attentive and are likely to build a good repour with customers based on common interests and a welcoming setting.
A point which is brought up in the report, which has been spoken about time and time again in vape related research, is that there remains a lot of misinformation and misunderstandings of the relative harms of vaping.
Just 17% of the public, and 25% of smokers, are correctly informed about the fact that e-cigarettes are 95% safer than smoking tobacco, with many falsely believing vaping to be just as harmful as smoking.
Unfortunately, this remains one of the biggest battles for the vaping industry and health associations alike, as these misconceptions could be stopping many people from picking up an e-cigarette in place of a traditional cigarette. Fortunately, reports like this and the work of health organisations such as ASH (Action on Smoking and Health), PHE (Public Health England) and many others are helping to spread the benefits of using e-cigarettes in place of smoking, and slowly but surely the message is getting through.
If you would like to learn more about e-cigarettes, pop in to your local Evapo vape shop and speak to a member of our team. Alternatively, head over to our blog to read more vaping related news, reviews and how to’s!
Sources:
https://www.rsph.org.uk/uploads/assets/uploaded/dbdbb8e5-4375-4143-a3bb7c6455f398de.pdf
https://www.rsph.org.uk/uploads/assets/uploaded/b6f04bb8-013a-45d6-9bf3d7e201a59a5b.pdf
