Responding to Client Questions on Tobacco and Health

Responding to client questions about the diseases associated with tobacco use is an important aspect of the treatment intervention. Often your clients ask questions such as:

• What is emphysema?
  
• Do you think that I still can get cancer even if I quit?
  
• What is cigarette smoke doing to my children?

Before you answer these questions, it is important to find out what your client is really asking. What is the purpose or motivation of his or her question? Why does she or he want to know that? Once you know the purpose of the question, you can provide the appropriate response and the appropriate amount of information.

Listening skills: What is the client really asking?

Clients often ask questions about tobacco-related diseases because they want:

• Information
• Reassurance
• Motivation in quitting
• Advice about their own health

Some of the counseling techniques, such as reflective listening reviewed in the Counseling Clients section of this website, will help you discover the real purpose of the client's question.

Simple information

Your client may be asking only because she or he wants more information about the consequences of tobacco use. The questions may be:

• "Does smoking raise people's blood pressure?"
  
  
• "What happens to people who chew tobacco?"

Reassurance

Other clients want to know if they are going to be affected by disease. For example:

• "Do you think that my baby is going to be normal if I quit?"
  
  
• "Now that I quit, do you think that I'm not going to get lung cancer? I had a friend who died from lung cancer a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm concerned."

Motivation in quitting

Some clients are looking for extra motivation to quit. They may ask:

• "My dad had his first heart attack when he was 45, and my doctor told me that I was on the same path. Do you think that I can avoid a heart attack if I quit?"
  
  
• "I have gotten bronchitis four times this year. Do you think that if I quit smoking, I will not get these terrible colds anymore?"

Specific information on the client's own health

Finally, some clients are really asking for information about their own health. For example:

• "I'm diabetic and my doctor told me that I needed to quit smoking. Do you know if smoking increases or decreases the sugar in my blood?"
  
  
• "My doctor told me that cigarette smoking contributes to my high blood pressure. Do you think that if I don't smoke, I can stop taking the medication?"