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Self-perceived changes in professionals of substance misuse outpatient treatment centres in Catalonia (CAS) after receiving training on smoking intervention

Abstract:

The prevalence of smoking in individuals treated for Substance Use Disorders is up to four times higher than in the general population and remains stable. The lack of training in smoking cessation may partly explain the low level of intervention in the substance misuse outpatient treatment centres (CAS) in Catalonia. The aim of this study is to evaluate changes in the short and medium term in professionals and their teams after training. A brief questionnaire is administered to attendees (n=23) before, after and three months after the training. Before training, one in four helps their patients to stop smoking, and three out of four report poor self-confidence to treat tobacco dependence. Overall, the training increases knowledge and self-efficacy. Although intervention increases after training, it drops in the medium term. 71.4% of the participants claim they had attempted to spread part of the training to their teams, and 63.2% of professionals reported that their team has taken some action to improve smoking cessation support. Health authorities should commit to offer continuing education training in smoking cessation for staff working at substance misuse treatment centres, to help integrate tobacco use interventions into routine practice.