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Ask, Advise and Connect: Proactive Smoking Cessation.
Waters, Christopher
Waters, Christopher
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Abstract
The smoking of tobacco remains the causation of major negative health changes within the United States. The addictive nature of tobacco makes cessation a challenge and many repeated attempts are often needed for success. To better address smoking cessation within primary care a change in provider workflow was implemented in a primary care practice in Northern New England with the effects on cessation motivation and engagement with smoking resources measured. The intervention Ask, Assess, Connect (AAC) was used to increase health awareness and cessation attempts by actively working with the patient on connecting to cessation enrollment during patient visits. AAC has a minimal impact on daily clinical practice but actively increases patient-provider interaction regarding tobacco cessation. All primary care providers (n= 8) were provided training in AAC and aids for integration of the intervention into daily practice. The project identified smoking patients for intervention (n=68). During the patient encounter, patient motivation (n=15) was measured by survey before and after the intervention, to estimate motivational change. Smoking cessation engagement (n=4) was measured by completed applications for cessation resources. The effects on motivation were quantified by Cohen’s D and engagement by comparing the percentage of patients enrolled to a quitline to the State average for patient enrollment. Motivational change from AAC was found to have a large positive effect (D=0.826) and 5.9% enrolled in cessation compared to the state average of 2.2%. Both metrics demonstrate that AAC when implemented has positive effects toward increasing cessation attempts. The long-term incorporation of AAC into practice would enable future study of sustained changes to the health of the smoking population.
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Date
2026-04-23