Tobacco & nicotine use: prevention and cessation resources
Help your patients stop smoking—or prevent them from starting—with this comprehensive toolkit.
Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States, making tobacco and smoking prevention, cessation and policy issues a top public health priority.
A changing landscape brings new challenges for family physicians trying to help their patients quit. Even as rates of cigarette use continue to drop, especially among adults, vaping and other forms of nicotine use—particularly in younger users—are increasing.
About 70% of people who use tobacco products see a physician each year, so you can make an impact on your patients' tobacco use, including those with behavioral health disorders.
About 42,000 lives could be saved if family physicians would advise 90% of smokers to quit, and offer them medication or other assistance.
Tobacco cessation more than doubles when evidence-based interventions are used. Your efforts make a difference.
Clinical guidance
The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) supports the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) clinical preventive service recommendation on this topic:
For nonpregnant adults: Clinicians are advised to ask all adults about tobacco use, advise them to stop using tobacco and provide behavioral interventions and FDA-approved pharmacotherapy for cessation to nonpregnant adults who use tobacco.
For pregnant persons: Clinicians are advised to ask all pregnant persons about tobacco use, advise them to stop using tobacco and provide behavioral interventions for cessation to pregnant persons who use tobacco.
See the full recommendation for more information.
The AAFP supports the USPSTF clinical preventive service recommendation on this topic: that primary care clinicians provide interventions, including education or brief counseling, to prevent initiation of tobacco use among school-aged children and adolescents.
See the full recommendation for more information.
Education
Compare different medication delivery methods by cost, advantages, disadvantages and adverse effects.
Tobacco smoke can negatively impact the efficacy of certain medications, so patients who smoke or vape may require higher doses.
The Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at the University of California, San Francisco, offers tailored support with a focus on underserved populations (e.g., webinars, toolkits, articles and reports, fact sheets and guides, quit now cards). Physicians can use these resources to help patients quit smoking and vaping.
Adult smokers who were able to quit successfully in the past year; 67.7% said they wanted to quit and 53.3% said they had tried.
Practice-based resources
Telehealth can be an effective supplement to in-person visits when helping a patient quit smoking or vaping. Following up remotely can make patients feel more supported. Telehealth allows clinical staff to gauge non-verbal cues that can be missed during a telephone appointment.
Read the full guide.
The AAFP advocates for EHRs that include a template prompting clinicians or their practice teams to collect information about tobacco and nicotine use, secondhand smoke exposure, cessation interest and past quit attempts.
Learn more about best practices.
As of 2014, federal law requires insurance plans to cover:
- Tobacco use screening for all adults and adolescents
- Tobacco cessation counseling for adults and adolescents who use tobacco
- Expanded counseling for pregnant women
Accurate billing and coding is a must so you can be compensated for these services. Learn more.
This resource from the American Lung Association is designed specifically for patients who have just acquired health insurance and want to quit smoking or vaping.
Find out more about how to help these patients navigate open enrollment and tobacco surcharges.
Advocacy
Family physicians have a vital part to play in advocating for policies that address tobacco use prevention and treatment.
Learn more, including how to get involved.
This annual report from the American Lung Association looks at state and federal policies with a focus on enhancing outcomes for patients.
This advocacy initiative from the group Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights seeks to support local municipalities' rights to pass nonsmoking ordinances without state intervention.
Position papers, policies and journal articles
Patient resources
Tobacco use is a habit that often begins during childhood. This resource includes an app for physicians to deliver proper diagnosis and treatment.
The CATCH® My Breath program uses evidence-based interventions and resources to educate kids about the dangers of vaping.