Smoking cessation in cancer care in Alberta
Helping patients with cancer to quit smoking
Alberta Health Services – Cancer Care Alberta Smoking Cessation Services
Offers smoking cessation support to ambulatory patients with cancer:
- Front-line staff at cancer centres screen patients for tobacco use, advise them to quit smoking and refer patients to community-based smoking cessation services. Community-based smoking cessation services include the helpline (AlbertaQuits) and smoking cessation groups (QuitCore).
- Patients enrolled in a smoking cessation program or in some provincial social support programs are eligible for financial coverage of smoking cessation medications, including nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and prescription medications.
COVID-19 response: Cancer Care Alberta partnered with Alberta Health Services Tobacco Reduction Program to offer virtual group cessation programs (QuitCore) for patients with cancer.
Cancer patients’ access to smoking cessation support
In 2020, all 17 cancer centres in Alberta offered outpatients support to quit smoking; however, culturally appropriate supports for First Nations, Inuit and Métis patients with cancer were not yet available.
Partnership-funded project – Smoking cessation to optimize cancer outcomes project
Overall smoking cessation in cancer care implementation level: Silver
Category | Implementation criteria met | Level |
---|---|---|
Behavioural Counselling | Offers 3A (Ask, Advise, Act) or 5A (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) model | Bronze |
Pharmacotherapy | Offers subsidized varenicline, bupropion and/or NRT | Silver |
Person-Centered | Engages patients in program planning and gathers patient feedback | Silver |
Culturally Competent | Offers staff cultural competency training | Bronze |
Partnership | Works with a multi-disciplinary team and community partners | Silver |
Indicator Measurement and Reporting | Collects and reports on adoption and reach data | Bronze |
Downloadable content
Smoking cessation action framework implementation checklist
File size 95 KB