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American Public Health Association
133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition
December 10-14, 2005
Philadelphia, PA
APHA 2005
 
4073.0: Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - Board 1

Abstract #104185

Including tobacco cessation counseling as part of comprehensive medical care for hospitalized patients

Hollie B. Gibbons, MPH, RD and Bonnie Coyle, MD, MS. Community Health, St. Luke's Hospital, 801 Ostrum St., Bethlehem, PA 18015, 610-954-2301, gibbonh@slhn.org

Background: Hospitalization provides an opportunity for tobacco cessation counselors to engage patients in formalized tobacco cessation programs, yet medical providers are often unaware of such programs. Method: St. Luke's Hospital, provides face-to-face counseling, self-help materials, enrollment in an outpatient tobacco treatment program and post-discharge telephone follow-up to inpatient smokers. The nursing staff assesses all hospital admissions for tobacco use, distribute self-help materials and initiate tobacco cessation consults. Counselors then assess patient's readiness to quit, provide education, recommend a quit plan, enroll patients into a formal outpatient tobacco treatment program and provide post-discharge telephone follow-up calls for one year. If a patient is experiencing nicotine withdrawal symptoms, the attending physician is contacted with a pharmacotherapy recommendation. Uninsured patients can receive pharmacotherapy upon discharge through a hospital pharmacy voucher program if they enroll in the outpatient program. The counseling and quit recommendations are documented in the medical charts. Results: By involving the nursing staff, hospital affiliated physicians and pharmacy department, patients receive a reinforced tobacco cessation message. As a result of medical provider education and involvement, counselors had a 97% increase in the number of patients counseled from 2003 (n=262) to 2004 (n=517). Also as a result of this initiative, physicians assess patients for nicotine withdrawal symptoms upon admission, ordering the appropriate pharmacotherapy when needed. Conclusion: Comprehensive hospital-based cessation programs educate patients at a time when they are most receptive to quit recommendations, thereby increasing participation in formalized tobacco cessation programs.

Learning Objectives:

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Healthcare Providers' Role in Smoking Cessation Poster Session

The 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition (December 10-14, 2005) of APHA