Promoting smoking cessation in clinical practice
Patients who smoke should be offered advice and assistance to quit. Smoking cessation is associated with reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer, and may reduce the risk of developing dementia.
Smoking cessation resources for health professionals
The Smoking Cessation Guidelines for Australian General Practice provide effective strategies to identify smokers and assist them to stop smoking.
The RACGP Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice (the ‘red book’) briefly outline the recommendations for assessment and intervention for patients who smoke. Smoking status and interest in quitting smoking should be assessed for every patient over 10 years of age. All patients who smoke, regardless of the amount they smoke, should be:
- asked about their interest in quitting
- assessed whether they are nicotine dependent and if so, offered appropriate pharmacotherapy
- advised to stop smoking
- offered referral to a proactive telephone service such as Quitline
The RACGP SNAP guide provides recommendations and advice on implementing these interventions and encouraging patients to quit smoking.
Lifescripts resources provide guidelines and prescription templates for helping patients set goals and get the help they need to quit smoking.
The Implementing Lifestyle Change health professional education series has been developed by the Heart Foundation and the RACGP. It provides training to assist GPs and practise nurses in influencing patients to adopt healthy behaviours, including smoking cessation.
Further information and resources are available from http://www.quitnow.info.au or Quitline on 13 7848 (13 QUIT).
