Targeting populations

Just knowing best practices in tobacco control is not enough. A plan for implementing tobacco addiction treatment must address the healthcare and workplace systems in ways that enhance opportunities for delivering services.

Opportunities for Cessation in Healthcare Systems

Physicians and clinicians routinely do not take full advantage of the power their positions give them to influence their patients.

• Clinicians are highly credible sources of health information.
• 70% of tobacco users see a healthcare provider each year; 50% see a dentist.
• Clinicians are able to address tobacco within the context of its impact on other health issues.
• Healthcare presents a natural setting for conducting brief interventions and discussing pharmacological options (Lichtenstein, 1996).

Addressing tobacco in clinical practice responds to demand

There is current request for services for members from employers and other purchasers

• Increasingly, regulatory and accrediting agencies require that tobacco dependency be addressed.
• Support is available from concerned persons within healthcare systems who can act as internal change agents to implement tobacco cessation programs.