Free Tobacco Cessation Curricula Available to Clinicians and Coalitions

While fewer youth and adults smoke tobacco today than a decade ago, national data shows that those declines are leveling off. That’s why CADCA and the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center at the University of California, San Francisco are working together to prevent tobacco use and to help people quit smoking.

Today, more than 500,000 Americans die from smoking-related causes each year. Health problems stemming from secondhand smoke have been well documented. These include asthma, sudden infant death syndrome and ear infections. The link between secondhand smoke and mental health has not been well studied but a new study appearing in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that secondhand smoke exposure could lead to mental health issues.

Whether it’s for themselves or for their family, most people who smoke want to stop. The SCLC offers a clinician-assisted cessation program called “Rx for Change."

“With help of a clinician, the chances of beating tobacco addiction doubles,” Catherine Saucedo, SCLC Deputy Director said.

Although the “Rx for Change” training was designed to address an identified need to enhance the tobacco cessation education of health professionals, a person doesn’t have to be a clinician to learn and administer the program, Saucedo said.

There are tailored versions of the curricula from everyday people to clinicians in various specialties. Anyone, from a front-desk receptionist, to a doctor or nurse, a health educator, and an unlicensed coalition member who is interested in tobacco cessation, could take the free training with videos, handouts and PowerPoint slides, go to a group or individual and help them quit smoking almost immediately.

The “Rx for Change” curricula has been used to train 100,000 clinicians throughout the United States and abroad and has been shown to be a cost-effective and collaborative way to encourage patients to quit smoking.

“People gain the confidence to provide that intervention and help that person quit for good,” said the SCLC’s Director of Technical Assistance, Reason Reyes.

Saucedo said, “Our goal is to improve the quantity and quality of cessation. We want to increase the army of interventionists and help more people to quit.”

To register for the curriculum that applies to your profession, visit http://rxforchange.ucsf.edu/about.php.

“Rx for Change” has also just partnered with the Nutritional Institute of Central American and Panama and created a Spanish version. It is not yet posted on the “Rx for Change” website, but a description of the course and can be found at http://www.ciipec-incap.org/ver_evento_i.asp?clc=267&id=778 .

To learn more about the SCLC and CADCA partnership, listen to a CADCA podcast featuring the SCLC’s Catherine Saucedo.