RESEARCH in the North-East suggests that health campaigns could be run more effectively.

A team of health professionals from Sunderland and Newcastle used "social marketing" techniques to try to increase the number of pregnant women signing up to give up smoking.

A trial of this approach in Sunderland produced a tenfold increase in the number of pregnant and non-pregnant women joining quit-smoking classes in targeted areas.

Dr Ray Lowry, of Newcastle University Dental School, said that the approach was successful in developing a customer-friendly service and encouraging women to come forward for smoking cessation support during their pregnancy.

The approach involved recruiting women to take part in focus groups to identify factors preventing successful recruitment.

Local health professionals also took part in face-to-face role-playing with actors to better understand the issues facing local women.

This led to specially designed posters and leaflets being distributed in local antenatal clinics and the recruitment of a support worker to provide long-term, home-based support.

The results of the research project in Sunderland were reported in Public Health, the journal of the Royal Institute of Public Health.