Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Dec;12(4):213-220.
doi: 10.1017/jsc.2016.22. Epub 2016 Oct 3.

Content and Methods used to Train Tobacco Cessation Treatment Providers: An International Survey

Gina R Kruse  1   2   3 , Nancy A Rigotti  1   2   3 , Martin Raw  4   5 , Ann McNeill  5   6 , Rachael Murray  4   5 , Hembadoon Piné-Abata  4   5 , Asaf Bitton  2   7 , Andy McEwen  8   9
Affiliations

Content and Methods used to Train Tobacco Cessation Treatment Providers: An International Survey

Gina R Kruse et al. J Smok Cessat. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: There are limited existing data describing the training methods used to educate tobacco cessation treatment providers around the world.

Aims: To measure the prevalence of tobacco cessation treatment content, skills training and teaching methods reported by tobacco treatment training programs across the world.

Methods: Web-based survey in May-September 2013 among tobacco cessation training experts across six geographic regions and four World Bank income levels. Response rate was 73% (84 of 115 countries contacted).

Results: Of 104 individual programs from 84 countries, most reported teaching brief advice (78%) and one-to-one counseling (74%); telephone counseling was uncommon (33%). Overall, teaching of knowledge topics was more commonly reported than skills training. Programs in lower income countries less often reported teaching about medications, behavioral treatments and biomarkers and less often reported skills-based training about interviewing clients, medication management, biomarker measurement, assessing client outcomes, and assisting clients with co-morbidities. Programs reported a median 15 hours of training. Face-to-face training was common (85%); online programs were rare (19%). Almost half (47%) included no learner assessment. Only 35% offered continuing education.

Conclusion: Nearly all programs reported teaching evidence-based treatment modalities in a face-to-face format. Few programs delivered training online or offered continuing education. Skills-based training was less common among low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). There is a large unmet need for tobacco treatment training protocols which emphasize practical skills, and which are more rapidly scalable than face-to-face training in LMICs.

Keywords: tobacco cessation; training.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Educational topics covered in training programs by income level
*Cochrane-Armitage trend test p<0.05 Abbreviations: UM-upper middle, LM-lower middle
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization. WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2008: The MPOWER package. [Accessed July 17, 2015];Secondary WHO report on the global tobacco epidemic 2008: The MPOWER package. 2008 http://www.who.int/tobacco/mpower/2008/en/
    1. World Health Organization. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2003. [Accessed July 17, 2015]. WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. http://www.who.int/fctc/text_download/en/
    1. Fiore MC, Jaen CR, Baker T, et al. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2008. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update.
    1. Ng M, Freeman MK, Fleming TD, et al. Smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption in 187 countries, 1980-2012. J Amer Med Assoc. 2014;311:183–92. doi: 10.1001/jama.2013.284692. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bitton A, Eyal N. Too Poor To Treat? The Complex Ethics of Cost-Effective Tobacco Policy in the Developing World. Public Health Ethics. 2013;4:109–20. doi: 10.1093/phe/phr014. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources