Great American Smokeout 11/20/2008

In anticipation of the Great American Smokeout, Dr. Denise Flori, a Great Plains faculty member and Director of Behavioral Medicine, attended a three-hour smoking cessation workshop for healthcare providers sponsored by Integris Health. Health system-wide change works to promote more frequent smoking status assessment and to provide advice and referral to resources that can effectively double the rate of successful quit attempts.

The chronicity of smoking requires numerous brief interventions to increase response rates. In May 2008 the Public Health Service issued updated tobacco smoking cessation guidelines www.ahrq.gov/path/tobacco.htm . There are now seven, FDA-approved medications that dramatically increase the success of quitting. Counseling by itself works, but is even more effective when combined with medication. Tailored telephone counseling through free quitlines is especially effective, and can shorten clinician counseling time while enhancing the length and frequency of counseling opportunities for patients. The Oklahoma Quitline is run by a nationally-known, cognitive-behavioral treatment team known as Free & Clear. All 1-800-Quit Now calls are directed to Oklahoma-based coaches who can work with patients ready to set a quit date (and those who are not quite ready). Up to eight weeks of free nicotine replacement products are provided by this service. Practical problem-solving and social supports are used to engage smokers in successful quit attempts.