Health services and health professionals can play a major role in helping people quit smoking. In fact, one in 33 conversations with a health professional will lead to a patient successfully quitting smoking.
Recognising this, the Victorian Government, in partnership with Alfred Health, has piloted an initiative that sees health professionals offering a brief smoking cessation intervention, as appropriate, to everyone that accesses their services.
Seven health services participated in the trial. In each location, health professionals were encouraged to ask every patient about their smoking behaviour, offer a brief intervention where appropriate on smoking cessation, and communicate that information in patient records and discharge information. This became known as the ABCD approach.
This trial complements the work of healthcare services in implementing smoke-free policies and addressing the health impacts of smoking.
This is just one example of how health services can provide healthy and supportive environments.
Find out more about how to start the conversation with patients about smoking here.
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