The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #71197

Karen Licavoli, MPH and L. Evelyn Castillo, MPH. Bay Area Community Resources, 171 Carlos Dr., San Rafael, CA 94903

A major objective in this county-funded project was to increase the intention and confidence of counselors in human service agencies throughout Marin County (California) to provide cessation counseling to their clients. These agencies included substance abuse treatment and mental health agencies. Three elements were focused on in the trainings in order to increase counselors’ intention to treat. The first element was engaging the counselors’ interest by discussing how nicotine is used more as a “get normal” drug than as a “get high” drug. The second was providing concrete examples of how tobacco use causes death and disease. The third element was emphasizing that there was no need for the counselors to become cessation experts in order to be effective in helping people quit. Two counseling techniques were focused on in order to increase counselors’ confidence in their ability to treat. These were supportive statements and problem solving. Use of these techniques have been shown to result in higher quit rates. Discussing this with counselors we believe increases counselors’ self-efficacy because they are techniques that counselors often are already skilled at. An analysis of post-training evaluations of one hundred fifty four (154) trained staff indicated that over 80% of staff had an increased likelihood to counsel clients on tobacco use and an increased confidence in their ability to do so. Staff and agency directors described increased referral to staff physicians for nicotine patches, increased referral to quit programs, and increased discussion of client smoking status in case conferences.

Learning Objectives:

• List three key elements to increasing counselors' intention to provide cessation counseling to their clients who use tobacco.
• Describe two cessation techniques that can quickly be taught to counselors that will increase their confidence in their ability to counsel clients about tobacco use.

Keywords: Tobacco,

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.