H.E.A.L. Manual: Tobacco-Free Healthcare Facilities

H.E.A.L. Manual: Tobacco-Free Healthcare Facilities

Help Empower All of Louisiana

Calendar: Cessation

Cessation is an important component of a tobacco-free campus policy. The following are suggested steps for implementing cessation programs and resources at your facility.

Phase I

  Use the Cessation Resource and Planning Assessment to assess the current cessation resources available to patients and employees. Include employee cessation medical insurance benefits.

  Strongly encourage all tobacco-using patients, unless medically counter-indicated, to initiate the use of NRTs upon entering the hospital. Clear cooperation and support from all referring physicians are essential.

  Establish an in-house group and individual counseling program and refer people to the Smoking Cessation Trust and the Louisiana Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW, which is available 7 days a week.

  Encourage employees who have quit to volunteer as peer counselors.

  Make sure that the pharmacy can and does order sufficient supplies of NRTs in time for announcement of tobacco-free policy.

  Remove all cigarette receptacles within close proximity of the hospital facility.

Phase II

  Develop quit cards to hand to tobacco users. The Louisiana Tobacco Control program can also provide quit cards. Contact LTCP to order.

  Train providers in public health service clinical guidelines for treating tobacco use dependence in daily practice. Guidelines provided in H.E.A.L. online toolkit (www.quitwithusla.org in the health care providers section).

  Develop protocol to implement stand-by orders for tobacco-dependent patients. See inpatient Tobacco Cessation Form.

  Present in-house and referring physicians and nurse practitioners with the Fax-To-Quit Louisiana toolkit as an efficient way to counsel and communicate with their patients about the importance of tobacco cessation. Sign up for Fax-to-Quit at www.quitwithusla.org in the health care providers section).

  Announce availability of low-cost medications and cessation counseling. Do this in conjunction with communications team.

Phase III

  Promote the counseling and tobacco cessation pharmaceutical products and services available to all employees. Share information on incentives to quit, such as lower premiums for health insurance coverage, free resources (Smoking Cessation Trust, access to free NRTs and Louisiana Tobacco Quitline) available to employees and their family members if covered by hospital health insurance.

  Promote tobacco cessation resources for patients and the general community, including in-house group and individual counseling and use of the Louisiana Tobacco Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW).

  Inform employees and patients about resources available through the Smoking Cessation Trust, which provides cessation benefits to qualifying Louisiana residents who began smoking prior to September 1, 1988. More information is available at www.SmokingCessationTrust.org.

  Remove all remaining cigarette receptacles a week before the new policy is enacted. Removing receptacles after the policy is enacted will make it harder to enforce.

  Remove and dismantle current smoking areas before new policy is enacted.