Health Care Professionals: Help Your Patients Quit Smoking

You can play a key role in fighting tobacco use, the number one cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. Many smokers want to quit. Getting started often takes support and motivation from trusted sources, like you.

When it comes to talking to patients about quitting tobacco use, the Tips From Former Smokers^® (Tips^®) campaign can be a conversation starter. The campaign offers resources for you as well as your patients. With the support of CDC’s materials, you can help more patients live smokefree lives.

How to Help Your Patients Quit Smoking

The following resources, including FAQs and free training, can help you learn more:

• Fact sheet about Tips [PDF – 1M] and how health care professionals can get involved and support patients
• Free continuing education training for up to 4.5 CEs, entitled “Smoking Cessation for Pregnancy and Beyond: A Virtual Clinic”
• FAQs for Health Care Providers
• FAQs about how quitlines work and their effectiveness
• Medscape video (Conducting a Brief 2A & R Tobacco Intervention) An informational video featuring Tim McAfee, MD, senior medical officer to CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. This video shares the steps that you can take to conduct brief interventions with your patients.
• Medscape video – HIV and Smoking John Brooks, MD, Leader of the HIV Epidemiology Research Team at the CDC’s Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention explains the added dangers of smoking with HIV, and what steps you can take to help your patients.
• HIV Provider Smoking Cessation Handbook: A Resource for Providers
• HIV & Tobacco Use: Pharmacologic and Behavioral Methods to Help Your Patients Quit [PDF – 282KB]

Resources for Your Patients and Practice

To help you in this important work, you can:

• Print “Reasons to Quit Smoking” [PDF – 1M] and give it to your smoking patients.
• Download “Talk With Your Health Care Team” posters to inspire your patients to quit. Hang them in your practice’s waiting room, in patient rooms, and throughout your offices, where patients will see them every day.
• Download videos, print ads, radio ads, and other Tips campaign materials from the Tips Download Center to show in your waiting room. All of these resources are free for you to use.
• Order free notepads (with the 1-800-QUIT-NOW quitline number and CDC logo) to use in your practice (enter “notepad” in search bar on publication catalog web page).
• Suggest that your patients visit the How to Quit Smoking page on the Tips Web site. Link to it from your practice’s Web site.
• Let your patients know that they can get free quit help by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or 1-855-DÉJELO-YA (1-855-335-3569) (for Spanish speakers).

Other Resources

Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: A Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians This quick reference guide summarizes the findings from the Clinical Practice Guideline Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update, including:

• A summary of evidence-based cessation treatments
• A description of the development process
• Thorough analysis and discussion of the available research
• Critical evaluation of the assumptions and knowledge of the field
• Information for health care decision making

The Community Guide

The Guide to Community Preventive Services is a free resource to help you choose programs and policies to improve health and prevent disease in your community. It includes systematic reviews of tobacco prevention and control interventions in the following areas:

• Youth prevention
• Cessation
• Exposure to secondhand smoke
• Minors’ access to tobacco products
• Tobacco use among workers
• Mass-reach health campaigns

Our Partners

The following organizations have partnered with the Tips From Former Smokers campaign to build awareness for tobacco prevention and cessation. The organizations are listed for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Allergy & Asthma Network (AAN)

AAN is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to end suffering and death due to asthma, allergies, and related conditions through outreach, education, advocacy, and research. Learn more at www.allergyasthmanetwork.org.

American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

Learn more about AAFP’s Tobacco and Nicotine Program, which provides valuable resources on tobacco and nicotine prevention and control. The AAFP’s Tobacco and Nicotine Toolkit offers resources to support tobacco and nicotine prevention and cessation.

American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM)

The AAHIVM is a professional organization that supports the HIV practitioner and promotes accessible, quality care for all Americans living with HIV disease. Learn more at www.aahivm.org.

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

Learn more about AAP’s Clinicians & Clinical Practice resources, including practice tools, coding and payment recommendations, training and CME courses, and other resources to help patients and their families.

American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA)

Founded in 1968, AAPA is the national professional society for physician assistants (PAs). It represents a profession of more than 115,500 certified PAs across all medical and surgical specialties in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, and the uniformed services. More information is available at www.aapa.org.

American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)

Learn more about AANP’s continuing education resource — Smoking Cessation: Snuff a Butt, Save a Life — at cecenter.aanp.org.

American Association for Respiratory Care (AARC)

The AARC is the national professional association for respiratory care. Learn more about the AARC’s tobacco resources, including educational courses for respiratory therapists and a patient brochure for tobacco cessation.

American College of Cardiology (ACC)

The mission of the ACC is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. The ACC represents the majority of board-certified U.S. cardiovascular physicians. ACC members are physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, pharmacists, and practice managers. Learn more at www.acc.org.

American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM)

Learn more about ACNM and their commitment to Smoking Cessation. ACNM is the professional association that represents certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) and certified midwives (CMs) in the United States.

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)

Learn more about ACOG’s Smoking Cessation During Pregnancy[PDF – 4.6MB], a guide and toolkit for clinicians to help pregnant women quit smoking. ACOG’s Smoking Cessation for Pregnancy and Beyond: A Virtual Clinic is a CME-accredited online training which provides education about smoking cessation during pregnancy and beyond.

American College of Physicians (ACP)

Learn more about ACP’s Smoking Cessation Resources. This resource section includes policy papers, video highlights of the Annals of Internal Medicine studies on smoking cessation, and instructional briefs about tobacco cessation and tobacco-related disease.

American Counseling Association (ACA)

The ACA is a not-for-profit, professional and educational organization that is dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession. More information is available online at www.counseling.org.

American Gastroenterological Association  (AGA)

Learn more about the AGA and watch a video to help patients better understand how to prepare for a colonoscopy and start doctor-patient conversations.

American Medical Association (AMA)

Learn more about AMA and help your patients make healthier choices after they leave your office by promoting healthier lifestyles.

American Osteopathic Association (AOA)

The AOA represents more than 129,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students. Learn more about AOA’s health resources and the osteopathic philosophy of medicine.

American Pharmacist Association (APhA)

Founded in 1852, APhA is the largest association of pharmacists in the United States, with more than 62,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians as members. Learn more at www.pharmacist.com.

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

The APAis an organization of psychiatrists working together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental illness, including substance use disorders. APA has more than 37,000 members involved in psychiatric practice, research, and academia representing the diversity of the patients for whom they care. Learn more at www.psychiatry.org.

American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA)

APNA is the largest professional membership organization committed to the specialty practice of psychiatric-mental health nursing and wellness promotion, prevention of mental health problems, and the care and treatment of persons with psychiatric disorders. Membership totals more than 10,000 psychiatric mental health nurses. Learn more at www.apna.org.

American Psychological Association (APA)

APA is the leading scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States, with more than 115,700 members. Learn more about APA’s Smoking Resources. This resource site includes materials on health disparities and smoking, including webinars, fact sheets, and the APA SmokeScreen mobile app for health care professionals that provides information on smoking rates, risks, and evidence-based practices for health priority populations.

Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN)

The Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses is a 501(c)3 nonprofit membership organization that promotes the health of women and newborns. Learn more at www.awhonn.org.

CHEST Foundation (CHEST)

The mission of the CHEST Foundation is to champion lung health by supporting clinical research, community service, and patient education. More information is available online at https://foundation.chestnet.org/.

COPD Foundation

The COPD Foundation’s mission is to prevent and cure chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to improve the lives of all people affected by COPD. Learn more at www.copdfoundation.org.

 

The Foundation for Health Smart Consumers

The Foundation for Health Smart Consumers provides information to help consumers make health care decisions. Learn more on their website.

Guard Your Health

Guard Your Health provides a central place for Army National Guard Soldiers and family members to find information and resources on health and medical readiness. On their website, you can learn about their work towards a Tobacco-Free Living and a variety of other health related topics.

Health Ministries Association (HMA)

HMA encourages, supports and empowers leaders who integrate faith with the promotion of health and wholeness in local communities. Learn more about HMA’s support for persons serving in the specialty practice of faith community nursing and health ministry. Resources, including publications and practice tools, are available on the HMA website.

Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund of North America (LHSFNA)

LHSFNA is committed to healthier laborers and healthier employer bottom lines. The LHSFNA’s Health Promotion Division develops educational materials and information campaigns on tobacco cessation and other health and lifestyle issues that affect laborers and their families.

Mental Health America (MHA)

MHA is a community-based nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the needs of those living with mental illness and to promoting the overall mental health of all Americans. More information is available online at www.mentalhealthamerica.net.

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

NAMI is dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. More information is available at www.nami.org.

National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)

NACHC serves America’s medically underserved and uninsured and the community health centers that serve as their health care home. Learn more about NACHC at nachc.org.

National Association of Social Workers (NASW)

NASW is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world, with more than 120,000 members. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards Learn more about NASW’s Practice Tools, including smoking cessation resources to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities.

National Center for Primary Care (NCPC)

The NCPC is an academic research, training, and resource center focused on promoting excellence in community-oriented primary care and optimal health outcomes for all Americans, with a special emphasis on eliminating health disparities and improving health outcomes in underserved populations. Learn more at www.msm.edu/Research/research_centersandinstitutes/NCPC/.

National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA)

NCPA represents the pharmacist owners, managers, and employees of more than 22,000 independent community pharmacies across the United States. Learn more at www.ncpa.org.

Prevent Blindness

Learn about Prevent Blindness, the nation’s leading volunteer eye health and safety organization, dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. For more information on smoking and eye health, read their Smoking and Vision fact sheet [PDF – 178KB].

STRAND

STRAND helps empower pharmacists to improve patient outcomes and serves more than 1,000 local pharmacist members nationwide. Learn more at www.strandrx.com.

The Wellness Council of America (WELCOA)

The WELCOA (The Wellness Council of America) is a resource to help members build high-performing, healthy workplaces. With more than 5,000 corporate members, WELCOA helps business and health professionals improve employee well-being and create healthier organizational cultures. Learn more at welcoa.org.