Stop-smoking training should focus on counselling
Smoking behaviour should be taken into consideration in pharmacists’ training |
Smoking cessation training programmes for pharmacists should focus on counselling skills, rather than facts about smoking, research by the Health Development Agency, in conjunction with PharmacyHealthLink, suggests.
The HDA examined training programmes and resources available in England
and consulted professional organisations about what training should be
offered and by whom. It found that, although pharmacists are knowledgeable
about smoking cessation and nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), they
need additional support in understanding how smoking cessation training
translates into offering a service, and how they actually deal with smokers
and their various problems. Pharmacists also need encouragement to expand
their role in smoking cessation beyond the sale of NRT and to consider
that counselling and the behavioural side of smoking cessation, as well
as referral of patients to primary care trust services, is relevant to
them.
The research suggests that since pharmacists’ success in smoking
cessation programmes grows with increased practical experience, establishing
confidence in pharmacists new to the service is crucial to its success.
Pharmacists therefore need support to help them cope with low success
rates as well as training to help them recognise those who are seriously
trying to quit.
The survey found that the training available to pharmacists varies considerably
both locally and nationally. Commenting on the research, Miriam Armstrong,
chief executive of PharmacyHealthLink, said: “While we recognise
that many pharmacists provide excellent specialist smoking cessation
services, the standard of training is by no means consistent. Training
programmes are currently multifaceted and fragmented, with many different
providers and consequently considerable variation in the amount and type
of training that any individual pharmacist or staff member may receive.”
She added that one of the remaining issues is whether there should be
a pharmacy-specific training standard for smoking cessation or whether
the same training standard should apply to all health professionals.
She invited
feedback on the report, by e-mail, to info@pharmacyhealthlink.org.uk
The report is available here |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader