Advocating for Smokefree Environments: The Physician's Role

Much attention has been paid in getting physicians and other health care providers involved in advocating for local and state clean indoor laws, but little has been done by advocates to encourage physicians to counsel patients and their families, if the patient is a child, about secondhand smoke exposure. This results is a lost opportunity to eliminate home exposure and impact disease. This session will include a discussion about barriers to changing clinical practice, the components of an AMA program to address these barriers with primary care physicians and connect with community resources. In addition how changing clinical practice, getting more people to eliminate their exposure to secondhand smoke counseling can result in advancing local and state clean indoor air laws as well as improved funding for smoking cessation programs.