In the province of Ontario approximately 16.5% of the population are current smokers (CCHS 2013-14). The smoking rate is higher for the public health units located in the Southeast Local Health Integration Network (SELHIN) compared to Ontario -- Hastings Prince Edward Public Health has a smoking rate of 22.6%; KFL&A Public Health has a rate of 19.5%; and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit has a rate of 22.5%. There is a large burden of tobacco use on morbidity and mortality in Ontario. Tobacco is the number one leading cause of preventable death in Ontario. Tobacco will kill over half of all long-term users.
Smoking cessation is mainly provided by health care providers who have a clear role in smoking cessation. The Center for Disease Control’s Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs (2014) states that cessation interventions need to be institutionalized in health care settings at all levels of routine clinical care. A Cochrane systematic review in 2013 found that in the primary care setting, physician advice to quit smoking significantly increased quitting rates. The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO), the Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation (OMSC), the Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients (STOP) program, and Training Enhancement in Applied Cessation Counselling and Health Project (TEACH) all provide supports for health care providers to offer smoking cessation interventions to their clients.
KFL&A Public Health is partnering with the Southeast LHIN, Hastings Prince Edward Public Health and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark District Health Unit to conduct an environmental scan of cessation interventions being offered in health care settings across the region.
- SERVICE REQUIREMENT:
The RFP is to select a supplier to design and implement an environmental scan of smoking cessation services provided by health care providers in SELHIN (including type of service, frequency, number of clients served, waitlists, etc.), and to identify barriers and facilitators to accessing smoking cessation services. The results will inform future collaborative directions and opportunities for local and regional smoking cessation services to address unmet needs of the region. For the purposes of this environmental scan, the health care providers of interest physicians (including fee-for-service physicians, and physicians in Family Health Organizations, Family Health Teams, and Community Health Centres) , nurse practitioner-led clinics, Community Health Centres, Hospitals, local Public Health Units, Addictions and Mental Health Services, along with available on-line programs such as Smokers’ Help Line and others.
Components of this work may include but not be limited to environmental scan, key informant interviews, and document review to address the following key questions:
- What are the available cessations services in South Eastern Ontario?
- What services are available from each smoking cessation program (e.g., individual counselling or group sessions, nicotine replacement therapy, counselling, follow-up, etc.)?
- How are these services implemented, resourced, and evaluated (e.g. use, attrition, patient flow, quit rates, FTE, type of provider, referral patterns)? NOTE: Not all information will be available across all smoking cessation sites.
- What are the successes, barriers, and gaps for cessation service delivery in South Eastern Ontario regarding implementation and reach?
- What are the barriers and facilitators of current smokers in accessing smoking cessation services?
