Learning Objectives: Describe methods of integrating the AHRQ tobacco cessation guidelines within various healthcare disciplines.
Abstract:
Problem/Objective: Although the AHRQ guidelines recommend that all clinicians be trained in tobacco cessation, a majority of evidence focuses on physician training and not other clinical disciplines. It remains unclear what discipline-specific needs must be addressed and if all disciplines should be expected to perform all major categories of intervention (5 A’s).
Methods: Early efforts to develop and implement tobacco education curricula based on the AHRQ guidelines across healthcare disciplines has involved identifying organizations with expertise in either healthcare education or tobacco treatment, creating a program infrastructure to support efforts, assessing the educational needs of each specialty, and defining variations in perceived roles and responsibilities in regard to tobacco cessation. A model of discipline-specific education that allows individual practitioners to integrate elements of the core curriculum into their daily lives was then developed.
Results: Some of the key developments of this project have included the integration of an advisory panel to assist with networking between disciplines, the focus on a general conceptual curriculum that is modifiable to meet the specific needs of different disciplines at various stages of development, and an acceptance of the idea that not all providers are prepared to follow all of the AHRQ guideline recommendations.
Conclusions: Creating a core curriculum for tobacco intervention training is feasible and lends itself easily to methods that can be adapted to meet the needs of varying healthcare disciplines. Future efforts should focus on defining and identifying ways to integrate these discipline-specific competencies to create a global approach to intervention training.
Back to Poster Session
Back to Cessation, Nicotine, and the Science of Addiction
Back to The 2003 National Conference on Tobacco or Health (December 10-12, 2003)