RACGP smoking cessation resources to mark World No Tobacco Day

Tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable deaths in the world.
 
The focus of Word No Tobacco Day 2018 is the link between smoking and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and the global initiatives to address the impact of tobacco on public health.
 
GPs play a key role in supporting patients on their journey to smoking cessation. Providing advice and management plans for people who smoke and wish to quit has been found to motivate the individual and contribute to their short-term and long-term health.
 
The RACGP’s Supporting smoking cessation: A guide for health professionals states that:
 
Health professionals play an important role in educating and motivating smokers as well as assessing their dependence on nicotine and providing assistance to quit. All health professionals should systematically identify smokers, assess their smoking status and offer them advice and cessation treatment at every opportunity.
 
The RACGP has several resources to assist GPs in supporting their patients in smoking cessation:

• Supporting smoking cessation: A guide for health professionals – details the role of health professionals in smoking cessation, and includes background of the worldwide issue around smoking, pharmacotherapy options, behavioural support, and smoking cessation in high-prevalence and special needs populations. The current guidelines are under review for update.
• Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice (Red Book) – in the ninth edition, recommendations for assessing smoking status, identifying risk and providing advice on quitting is included in a chapter dedicated to prevention of chronic disease.
• National guide to a preventive health assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (National Guide) – covers key preventive health measures in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The new third edition includes a section on lifestyle, with updated recommendations on smoking in pregnant women and establishing systems in healthcare to document and routinely screen the smoking status of all patients.
• Smoking, nutrition, alcohol and physical activity (SNAP) – designed to assist GPs to work with patients to reduce key lifestyle risk factors. It includes clinical strategies, advice on assessing whether patients are ready to make lifestyle changes, and other useful tools and referral services.
• Putting prevention into practice: Guidelines for the implementation of prevention in the general practice setting (Green Book) – the upcoming third edition is a practical resource designed to strengthen preventive activities in general practice. Advice for GPs to assist patients to quit smoking includes case studies from various healthcare professionals and a ‘reality pyramid’ tool for smoking cessation.

Green-Book National-Guide Red-Book smoking-cessation SNAP-guide World-No-Tobacco-Day