Pharmacy Students Implement Brief Tobacco Intervention

Audience:

The audience may include educators, clinicians, administrators, insurance providers or anyone with an interest in tobacco cessation.

Key Points:

Pharmacists are widely known as the most accessible healthcare provider. The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) Systems Training and Outreach Program (STOP) 2As and R Brief Tobacco Intervention is an evidence-based method to aid patients desiring to quit.

In June 2011, Harding University College of Pharmacy (HUCOP) faculty met with ADH employees to describe program services and identify opportunities for collaboration. Both organizations desire to increase tobacco interventions throughout the state.

Every semester, HUCOP students participate in role-playing and patient counseling simulation scenarios. In the fall of 2011, the scenarios were related to tobacco cessation.   Student pharmacists completed the web-based STOP education and conducted an intervention on a faculty mentor acting as a current tobacco user. The students were graded according to the simple plan of ask, advise and refer. In the spring of 2012, students will be required to enhance patient motivation to quit using the 5Rs Method.

Educational Experience:

A Power Point presentation will outline the basic concepts of our activities. We will then ask attendees to share with others in the audience the ways in which they could use the 2As and R Brief Tobacco Intervention in their setting.

Benefits:

With these two activities completed by the end of the 2011-2012 academic year, 180 pharmacy students will be trained to complete a brief tobacco intervention. This may make a positive impact on student pharmacists’ comfort of tobacco intervention.