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ADVISE
Role Of Physicians & Caregivers
In Advocating Cessation
HOW
TO
HELP PATIENTS QUIT:
-
Research
has shown that the active involvement of doctors, nurse practitioners
and other health care professionals can be critical in the identification,
evaluation, treatment, follow-up, and possible referral of smokers.
- Physicians
have contact with approximately 70% of all smokers at least once a
year.1
- Most
smokers go through several stages of change before they stop smoking:
they contemplate quitting, attempt to quit (often more than once),
finally succeed in quitting, and then work on remaining a non-smoker.
2
Physicians
have the opportunity to move smoking patients and family members along
the change continuum with each contact.
- Some
surveys suggest that physicians do not believe that they have much
impact on changing the smoking behavior of patients. In fact, most
smokers say they would quit if advised to do so by their physician.3
Smokers
are more likely to attempt to quit when advised to do so by a physician. 4
5
- Less
than half of men and women smokers report that they have been advised
by their physician to quit smoking.
6 7
- Findings
that smokers frequently don't really hear a physician's message about
quitting when it is given, 4 suggest
that the message must be continually repeated and possibly given in
the form of a written prescription.
- Evidence
from randomized trials suggest that going beyond advice alone significantly
increases the physician's effectiveness in promoting smoking cessation.5
8
9
- Many
of these actions do not require a lot of extra time during an office
visit. Here are some guidelines 10
for brief intervention: The
Six "A's" Of Brief Intervention
The
Six "A's" Of Brief Intervention
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