Improving the effectiveness of smoking cessation in primary care: lessons learned.

Abstract

This programme compares favourably with six-month quit rates for NRT-based programmes reported in the international literature of 14-22%. The effectiveness of an NRT-based smoking cessation programme in a general primary care setting appears to have been significantly enhanced by local adaptation, the flexibility of a primary-care-team approach and subsidisation of NRT, together with facilitation responsive to individual practice needs. The success of this programme in helping individual patients quit, as well as its successful implementation in a wide primary care setting, suggests General Practice can play an important role in smoking cessation in a country with a high burden of disease from smoking-related illnesses. The programme is congruent with the current, national, smoking cessation guidelines endorsed by the RNZCGP. Widespread adoption of this kind of model in IPA/primary health organisation (PHO) settings throughout New Zealand should be encouraged and supported.