Smoking cessation in cancer care in New Brunswick

Horizon Health Network – Tobacco cessation support in cancer care settings

Offers point-of-care tobacco cessation support for ambulatory patients with cancer:

• Patients with cancer are screened for tobacco use when their appointment is booked, a smoking cessation consult is completed in clinic during the initial visit, and follow-up support is offered post-visit.
• Project funding allows patients with cancer access to free smoking cessation medications, including nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) from the cancer clinic, or varenicline or bupropion from the patient’s pharmacy.
• Patients who qualify can receive coverage for smoking cessation medications through the provincial drug program.

COVID-19 response: Some smoking cessation consults are being completed virtually. Home delivery of smoking cessation medications via courier has been used more frequently by patients during the pandemic.

Cancer patients’ access to smoking cessation support

In 2020, the five cancer centres in the Horizon Health Network regional health authority offered outpatients support to quit smoking; however, culturally appropriate supports for First Nations, Inuit and Métis patients with cancer were not yet available. The three outpatient cancer centres in the Vitalité Health Network regional health authority had not yet implemented smoking cessation services.

Partnership-funded project – Expanding tobacco cessation support in outpatient cancer care settings

Overall smoking cessation in cancer care implementation level: Gold

Category	Implementation criteria met	Level
Behavioural Counselling	Offers 3A (Ask, Advise, Act) or 5A (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) model with an opt-out approach and mechanisms for relapse prevention, follow-up and extension of support to family and friends	Gold
Pharmacotherapy	Offers free varenicline, bupropion and/or NRT	Gold
Person-Centered	Engages patients in program planning and gathers patient feedback	Silver
Culturally Competent	Working to develop cultural competency training materials for untrained staff	Pre-implementation
Partnership	Works with multi-disciplinary team and community partners, with mechanisms for information sharing to track patient progress	Gold
Indicator Measurement and Reporting	Collects and reports on adoption, reach, uptake and outcome data	Gold

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