WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Legacy Foundation has awarded the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) - Center for Workforce Studies a major grant of $500,000 to conduct a national study to assess what physicians know about smoking cessation and find out what strategies and treatment options they use with their patients who smoke and use other tobacco products. The results of the 18-month study will aid patients and physicians by helping to design effective smoking cessation programs. The study will be conducted in collaboration with the Center for Health Workforce Studies (CHWS) at the School of Public Health, University of Albany, New York.
Physicians are one of the most important sources of information for Americans on health issues and have the potential to be a major contributor to efforts to further reduce smoking and tobacco use. Over two-thirds of Americans see a physician at least once a year. Currently, there is a need for a far greater understanding of physician knowledge and practices and the factors that will influence their future practice related to smoking cessation.
“This study will reinforce the need for doctors to revisit the importance of smoking cessation with all of their patients who are addicted to tobacco,” said Dr. Cheryl Healton, President of the American Legacy Foundation. “Education is a huge part in the overall fight against tobacco, and doctors and other health professionals have a responsibility to their patients to initiate the conversation about smoking cessation and to provide smokers with the support they need to quit because often, repeated attempts to support a smoker are essential for them to ultimately be successful.”
“On behalf of the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals, I want to thank the American Legacy Foundation for providing this terrific opportunity to evaluate our efforts to educate physicians about smoking cessation,” said the AAMC’s president, Jordan J. Cohen, M.D. “With more information on how today’s doctors treat patients with tobacco addictions, we can design better education programs to assist physicians in their fight against this major health risk.”
For this new study, the AAMC and CHWS will survey a representative sample of family physicians, general internists, obstetricians-gynecologists and psychiatrists across the country. The study will provide baseline data for comparison with any future studies and assess changes in how physicians address smoking cessation. Its results, including a report, database, articles and presentations, will be available in February 2006.
“We know that about 70 percent of smokers want to quit, but many simply do not have access to effective treatment or even sufficient information about quitting,” said Dr. Steven Schroeder, the American Legacy Foundation’s Board Chair and Distinguished Professor of Health and Health Care, Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California at San Francisco, where he also heads the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center. “We also know that developing a plan of action prior to quitting can help increase the patient’s chances for a successful quit attempt and that physicians, internists, obstetricians, gynecologists and psychiatrists can help people develop that plan for quitting.”
Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable death (approximately 440,000 per year) and illness in America, costing the nation approximately $157 billion in annual health-related economic losses(1).
In 2003, national organizations concerned with tobacco use and government collaborated on the development of a National Blueprint for Disseminating and Implementing Evidence-Based Clinical and Community Strategies to Promote Tobacco-Use Cessation(2). A key strategy outlined in the Blueprint was targeting clinicians for interventions who treat individuals who smoke and their families.
The AAMC is recognized as a leader in the field of medicine and medical education in the nation, and is well respected in the physician community for the quality and integrity of its work. The CHWS has extensive experience in surveying physicians and has an excellent record of obtaining high response rates and conducting quality research on the physician workforce.
The American Legacy Foundation(R) is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the foundation develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use through grants, technical assistance and training, youth activism, strategic partnerships, counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns, public relations, and outreach to populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco. The foundation’s national programs include Circle of Friends(R), Great Start(R), a Priority Populations Initiative, Streetheory(R) and truth(R). The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five US territories, and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.americanlegacy.org/.
The Association of American Medical Colleges is a nonprofit association representing all 125 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 68 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and 94 academic and scientific societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC represents 109,000 faculty members, 67,000 medical students, and 104,000 resident physicians. Additional information about the AAMC and U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals is available at http://www.aamc.org/newsroom.
(1) Dept. of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health. 2004. The health consequences of smoking: a report of the Surgeon General. Washington, D.C.: U.S. G.P.O. (2) Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, University of Wisconsin, October 2002. A National Blueprint for Disseminating and Implementing Evidence-Based Clinical and Community Strategies to Promote Tobacco- Use Cessation. Madison, WI
American Legacy Foundation
CONTACT: Julia Cartwright of the American Legacy Foundation,+1-202-454-5596, jcartwright@americanlegacy.org; or Retha Sherrod of theAssociation of American Medical Colleges, +1-202-828-0975, rsherrod@aamc.org