What Are Clinical Interventions for Patients Unwilling to Quit Smoking?

For the people who are not able to give up their smoking habit, there are a number of ways to force them to stop. The first and most obvious solution is to promote the motivation to stop using tobacco through motivational dialogues (US Department of Health and Human Services[HSS]). The clinicians are encouraged to connect with the user’s feelings and values, as well as to better inform them of the dangers of smoking. The main goal of such dialogues is to find “any ambivalence about using tobacco” and use it as an anchor for further change in the patient’s attitude (HSS). This approach has proven more effective than delivering lectures or listing arguments against smoking. As such, the doctor should seek to utilize a person’s own ideas to support the need to eliminate the use of tobacco.

What are the Best Strategies to Help Your Clients Quit Smoking?

The paper outlines a number of steps required to assist the client’s efforts to quit smoking. To start off, the tobacco use by clients should be recorded and monitored, which helps the structural organization of the task (HSS). Secondly, the importance of ceasing the consumption of tobacco must be reinforced. This step should include advice that is easy to understand, persuasive, and personal (HSS). The clinician needs to reinstate the effects of the use of tobacco on existing health conditions and the socio-economic status of the patient. Next, the willingness of trying to quit should be determined (HSS). After accessing the patient’s conviction assistance to help break the habit, intensive treatment should be provided. The aid to clients can be conducted through counseling and medication. The patient has to abide by the formulated “quit plan” and be supported physically and socially (HSS). Problem-solving and skill training can be used to effectively manage the progress of the patient’s journey. The follow-up contacts also need to be implemented right after the quit date, to counter their specific challenges in quitting the use of tobacco.

Are There Recommendations for Teenagers or the Elderly?

The book also includes special notes on the treatment of specific populations, including older smokers, LGBT smokers, smokers with low social status and/or education, and others. Hospitalized smokers, for example, present a greater danger to their health and recovery with the use of tobacco, so their treatment should be as effective and quick as possible (HSS). The members of the LGBT community are also noted for the increased rate of smoking and higher risks due to prejudice and stigma. The interventions to help the low-income/low education clients should be formulated and delivered in a simpler, accessible-to-the-patient manner, in hopes of increasing effectiveness (HSS). Older smokers can benefit in a major way from the practices of abstinence, greatly reducing the risk of death and various diseases. Quitting can help boost the recovery from other illnesses in this population, increasing an individual’s desire to quit. The use of telephone counseling should be prioritized due to the specific issues of this population, including medication and mobility problems (HSS). In regards to racial minorities, an effort to promote abstinence should be taken, as these groups are presented with a higher risk and exposure to smoking, making them susceptible to the many dangers of tobacco (HSS). As many of them belong to the low-income category, the same approach of providing easy-to-understand information must be used, with the inclusion of special resources tailored to these communities.

Reference

US Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) (2008) Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: Update. Web.