Training and Technical Assistance

Smoking Cessation Training for Providers

Contact: Claire Jones
(215) 977-8996
cjones@healthfederation.org

Through a contract with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Tobacco Control Division, HFP trains front-line health care providers to help their patients stop smoking. Such providers include primary care clinicians, dentists, behavioral health specialists and others.

Providers are brought up to date on the latest research findings regarding smoking and smoking cessation, including prevalence rates for specific populations, new and emerging health risks, pharmacotherapy advances and promising trends in addiction counseling.

Providers are then trained in a brief intervention strategy through which they are able to record their patients' smoking histories, educate them regarding the risks of tobacco use, assess their readiness to quit, provide them with supportive and motivational materials, and refer them to additional resources -- all within the context of a normal office visit. Provider sites are also offered technical assistance and a variety of tools to support routine implementation of tobacco screening.

All city health centers and a number of other HFP-member health center sites offer cessation groups on site to their patients. HFP Smoking Cessation Specialists facilitate these groups and provide individualized follow-up for participants. For more information about HFP’s smoking cessation services for consumers, visit this page:
Smoking Cessation in Health Centers.

In addition to training for healthcare providers, HFP offers clinical observations, feedback and training to Smoking Cessation Specialists who deliver group education and support to consumers in community settings throughout the city.  This annual cycle of clinical support facilitates quality improvement and professional development across the entire smoking cessation system.