Grant Application - Outreach

Despite local and national attempts to promote prevention and curb accessibility and use, approximately one in five Americans continues to use tobacco products [1]. The majority of tobacco users are interested in quitting, yet fewer than one-third report using evidence based cessation methods, and fewer than ten percent report a successful quit attempt in the past year[3]. One intervention method is the integration of tobacco cessation into clinical care in an inpatient setting[5]. Recent results from inpatient programs highlight the value to patients, but also indicate the presence of multiple barriers to effective intervention, such as patient misperceptions and knowledge about available therapies. This project is designed to identify the specific barriers to opt-in inpatient tobacco cessation consultation at a large regional hospital in upstate NY, and to tailor and promote NNLM tobacco cessation resources to directly address those barriers. We plan to 1)identify the specific barriers to receipt of inpatient tobacco cessation consultation at our hospital; 2) assess patient knowledge and perceptions of the danger of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes/vaping products; 3) assess patient knowledge and perceptions of tobacco cessation therapies; and 4) using the NNLM resources on tobacco cessation, develop effective, tailored passive messaging (posters, informational flyers and/or pamphlets) informed by survey results, to best complement the knowledge and perceptions about tobacco use, as well as other barriers to consultation identified in our patient population.