Enhanced Care for Smoking, Cessation

There is a need for the development of theories and targeted interventions that aim to increase social acceptability and efficacy of messages on stopping smoking and avoiding smoking during pregnancy.

After 3 months of cessation, some, but not all of the signs of smoking were reversible in this study. Smoking cessation is the only modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

14.8 million Americans are smokers and 1.3 million are quitting smoking. Smoking in teenagers and young adults remains a major public health priority. New developments in treatment and cessation programs and tobacco taxation have the potential to lead to significant improvements in smoking prevalence and cessation rates.

Smoking is an epidemic, and the fact that nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population would be harmed by the long-term health and morbidity associated with smoking underscores its importance and the need for smoking cessation to reverse the effects of smoking. At present, very few smokers, however, attempt to quit and remain abstinent in the short-term through conventional behavioral and pharmacological efforts. This article discusses the role of smoking as an addictive stimulus and cessation strategies of interest for current smokers.

The result of this study shows that treatment is not completely cure or complete cure--as can be claimed by the media--but it is a good start to curb the progress, and more importantly, to prevent the disease from progressing. Treatment should be repeated and prolonged to maintain a smoking-free lifestyle.

Many smokers struggle with quitting smoking, while some prefer to give up a habit they were born with, and others want to maintain smoking (i.e., to stay a smoker). In general, there are a limited number of effective treatments.\n

This exploratory study highlights several possible causes for the cessation of smoking among the general Norwegian population. Most importantly, it indicates that the primary prevention to quit smoking could be based on motivational processes and that interventions should be more comprehensive and effective than the current primary preventive programmes.

Given the large number of treatments often considered 'enhanced', it is not surprising to find that care providers rarely ask about patient preferences for enhanced therapies during routine follow-up consultations, even when the patient has a significant problem which cannot be solved in a single therapy. Given the benefits of enhanced care in COPD, this may be an important area of improvement. I would propose a standard approach to referrals: 'enhanced' versus'standard' care options. Referrals are most effective when they include details of patient or provider preferences, the clinical appropriateness of the treatment option, patient and/or caregiver preferences, and patient-specific and personalised recommendations to the patient.

Effective clinical research has been performed to address current and future guidelines for the implementation of ECP. However, the implementation of ECP remains challenging and further progress is needed in the development and dissemination of strategies and the availability of quality clinical evidence.

Enhanced care resulted in significant increases in some of the SF36 dimensions, which may be due to improvements in general health. Findings from this review suggest that enhanced care is feasible as an adjunct to smoking, cessation treatment and supports sustained improvements in quality of life.

More than half of tobacco smokers are interested in quitting (48%) and many are attempting to quit, yet, many are unaware that their disease is caused by their habit (63%), that their problem cannot be solved by quitting alone (57%), and most will not be able to afford a cessation program (73%).