Cow pat bingo tested as a novel way to help Maori and Pasifika quit smoking

Clinics would use a virtual version of cow pat bingo as a way to engage with patients better. Photo/file

Researchers have been trying novel new ways to get Maori and Pasifika people to quit smoking - including playing a game of cow pat bingo.

While the "gimmicky" idea was fun to try out, researchers from the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) discovered it didn't make any difference at the end of the day.

Patients who were given quit smoking advice from nurses when they went to their GP were given numbered tickets and could take part in an online game where a cow is placed in a field which has been marked with numbered squares.

If the patient's ticket number matched the square the cow dropped its first pat on, they would win a prize.

Other games included patients being given the opportunity to enter into a prize draw after being smoke free for one month.

AUT senior lecturer of nursing Dr Grace Wong said they were testing the idea that a novel type of smoking intervention would help break the ice between people who smoke, and medical professionals.

She said brief interventions, where doctors and nurses ask patients about their smoking and encourage them to quit with support, are effective at motivating people to stop smoking, but that these are too often seen by health professionals as a box-ticking exercise.

"Primary care professionals usually only have a short time with patients so opportunities to engage over things like smoking are brief and this is particularly so for Maori or Pasifika where there are often cultural or communication issues involved."

Researchers carried out tests at five community clinics over 2015 and 2016, but found the cow pat bingo and other games had no difference on success rates for quitters.

A pilot study involving a control group and an intervention group found both groups had a higher number of people than usual trying to quit smoking, but success rates remained the same.

"We think that what made the difference was having the carbon monoxide monitor," Dr Wong said.

Nevertheless, it was still important to look at different ways to engage patients.

"It's important to take a variety of approaches. The cow pat bingo concept appealed to Maori but not Pasifika youth and adults, so we minimised this while retaining the appealing rural imagery and online quit-and-win components of the intervention."

She said although the study did not indicate potential for triggering mass quitting, its authors did recommend novel interventions because they reduce dependency and engage Maori, Pasifika and first-time quitters.