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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Catherine E. Nixon, BSW, CSW¹, Merle J. Weitz, MSW¹, and Julia Donlen, RN, DNSc, JD². (1) Mom's Quit Connection, Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative, 2500 McClellan Avenue, Suite 250, Pennsauken, NJ 08109, 856.665.6000, cnixon@snjpc.org, (2) Southern NJ Perinatal Cooperative, 2500 McClellan Ave, 250, Pennsauken, NJ 08109

Many prenatal providers ask about smoking, however, few provide strategies to help pregnant women quit. Pregnant smokers are often made to feel ashamed and guilty. Research supports that perinatal smoking cessation intervention, provided in a non judgmental fashion, is especially effective when coming from a physician. Yet many clinicians report feeling reluctant or ill equipped to effectively counsel pregnant smokers.

Mom's Quit Connection, a perinatal smoking cessation program of the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative, offers professional training to clinicians that includes information about maternal nicotine addiction and strategies for incorporating motivational interviewing about smoking during pregnancy into routine prenatal care. The training is based on the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommended 5A's brief intervention model. The program's goal is to build upon the relationship between provider and patient to better assess the pregnant smoker's readiness to quit and willingness to seek and follow through with more intensive treatment intervention.. Ultimately, pregnant smokers will feel more comfortable asking for help and seek the ongoing support needed to quit.

Evaluation of the training's effectiveness is based on a comparison of a pre-training assessment of smoking cessation interventions in each practice as compared to reassessment at two and six months post training. The assessment examines office staff, flow, clinician interview techniques and documentation practices utilized when counseling pregnant smokers. Results at one year showed a 78% increase in use of the 5 A's strategies and tools at two months, an increase that was sustained at the six month reassessment.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe the five components of perinatal smoking cessation brief intervention counseling.
• Define motivational interviewing and how it can be incorporated into a routine clinician/patient dialogue about smoking.
• Apply the five A's brief intervention model to four major components of routine prenatal office practice; staffing, office flow, interviewing technique and chart documentation.

Keywords: Smoking Cessation, Professional Training

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered