Whatever works I guess. I personally believe that all those aids are another way of transferring an addiction. I know people still chewing nicorette after years of using it to quit. I heard on the news that the patches are worthless in the longterm but beneficial in the short term. I was always allergic to those, the gum was nasty, being one with depression the chantex was way off limits for me, the e-cig just compounded my WANT for a real cigarette altho they were kind of fun for awhile. Finally I got something for anxiety and threw the cigarettes away and bit the bullet. IMO, this is the path of least resistance. I kinda think well, lets just get it done and get it overwith. Its been over a year now since I smoked and never want to quit again so. I will never take another puff for that reason alone! lol
This is my opinion of course and it takes what it takes for each one of us. We are all different. We all started smoking for different reasons, different lengths of time and in different situations. The why is as important to understand as the way we need to quit.
Well amen to you for being such a great friend. It's sooo hard to quit smoking much less trying to do it without the support of friends and family. I've been there and failed many times due to no support.
So, about the patches. None of them are "worthless". It just matters how badly you wanna quit and how much support you have around you. Quitting will be difficult no matter what your friend uses. These are only aids to (help) with withdraw. I am a BIG proponent of Chantix as a cessation aid. I took them and had absolutely ZERO problem leaving them alone once I put them down. I quit for a year and then due to family tragedy, slipped and that''s all she wrote. It's like you never quit after that first cigarette. At least for me.
So if your friend is looking for something to make her actually quit, Chantix is the way to go. If she only needs a boost to keep the nicotine in her body to basically be weaned from them (keep from feeling uncomfortable) then patches, gum, losenges, etc. should be enough to keep the withdraw at bay.
I hope this helps and good luck to your friend.