ASVCP-SIG
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August 2020 | An Evaluation of Online and Automated Smoking Cessation Programs
Presenter: Prof Ron Borland, Deputy Director, Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change, School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne
There is now a plethora of online smoking cessation apps and programs, most completely unevaluated and often not based on strong theoretical principles. This presentation will focus on what works and which might be available to Australian smokers. In particular, I will describe the characteristics of the QuitCoach (which I developed), the strong evidence base behind it, and the key techniques that appear to be behind its effectiveness. I will also discuss how automated resources might be used as complements to person-delivered resources, especially for smokers with more than average needs for help.
July 2020 l The Utilisation, Effectiveness & Safety of Smoking Cessation Pharmacotherapies During Pregnancy: An Australian Population-Based Study
Presenter: Alys Havard, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Big Data Research in Health, University of NSWThis NHMRC-funded research used linked pharmaceutical claims and administrative health data for all women who gave birth in New South Wales and Western Australia between 2004 and 2012 to examine the extent to which prescription NRT patches, bupropion and varenicline are used during pregnancy. To examine the effectiveness of these medicines during pregnancy, the smoking cessation rates associated with varenicline relative to NRT patch use was measured. The risk and benefits associated with these medicines in pregnancy was assessed by comparing the rate of adverse birth outcomes among women who used prescription NRT patches, bupropion or varenicline with the rate among women who smoked but did not receive any of these medicines.
June 2020 l Smoking and the Course of COVID – Clear or Mud?
Presenter: Prof Matthew Peters, Respiratory Physician and Head of Respiratory Medicine at Concord HospitalProfessor Peters takes a look at the research around smoking and COVID.
May 2020 l Smoking cessation care for pregnant and postpartum Indigenous Australian women: A collective approach
Presenters: A/Prof Gillian Gould, GP & Tobacco Treatment Specialist; Tabassum Rahman, PhD candidate; Dr Parivash Eftekhari, post-doctoral researcher and pharmacist, University of Newcastle; Allison Hart, Aboriginal Research Assistant & Cultural Liaison Officer IsistaquitEffective smoking cessation care (SCC) can save unnecessary loss of lives and smoking-related life long morbidity. The urgency of quitting smoking during pregnancy cannot be emphasised enough. Therefore, we put our effort to enhance SCC for pregnant Indigenous Australian women to support them to quit smoking for themselves and their families. Our research shows that smoking by Indigenous people is often influenced by numerous contextual, immediate social surroundings and personal factors, requiring SCC to be orchestrated at multiple levels and to be comprehensive. This presentation will be from Associate Prof Gillian Gould and members of her team to present their research on multiple aspects for interventions to address some of the major barriers around SCC. Ms Tabassum Rahman will present her systematic review about how the socio-ecological model can be applied to the barriers and enablers on system, health service, community and individual levels for the topic. A/Prof Gould will present the phased development and trials about the SISTAQUIT intervention (formerly ICAN QUIT in Pregnancy) that included an online training package for health professionals providing care to pregnant and postnatal Indigenous women, patient resources and free oral nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). A successful pilot study led to the randomised controlled trial of SISTAQUIT (Supporting Indigenous Smokers To Assist Quitting) and a national roll-out of the SCC care package as iSISTAQUIT, accompanied by a social media campaign. Dr Pari Eftekhari will present her research plan to engage family members, especially partners, in smoking cessation in pregnancy. Her research will explore partners perspectives to smoking cessation in pregnancy through our qualitative research project PAPAS. We will further outline a promising individual and community-based approach using the new MAMA-Empower Health App. Our collective goal is to make smoking cessation easier, more effective and relevant for Indigenous Australian women. The team will outline ways that the ASCP SIG could become involved in this research.
February 2020 | What is new in the second edition of Supporting Smoking Cessation: A Guide for Health Professionals?
Presenter: Prof Nicholas Zwar, Bond University and Chair of Expert Advisory Group for the publication The second edition of this publication from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners was released on 28 January 2020 after a long process of review and discussion. The new edition has a number of substantive changes, including the incorporation of a brief intervention three step structure (Ask, Advise, Help) and a range of changes to recommendations for use of smoking cessation pharmacotherapies. The publication also includes recommendations around the role of nicotine containing e-cigarettes in assisting smoking cessation. These recommendations have attracted considerable attention.The presentation will cover the process undertaken for producing the new edition, the key changes in recommendations and the literature review and rationale behind these recommendations.
