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Australian mental health care practitioners’ practices and attitudes for encouraging smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction in smokers with severe mental illness
Author(s) -
Sharma Ratika,
Meurk Carla,
Bell Stephanie,
Ford Pauline,
Gartner Coral
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.911
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1447-0349
pISSN - 1445-8330
DOI - 10.1111/inm.12314
Subject(s) - smoking cessation , medicine , harm reduction , abstinence , mental health , mental illness , psychiatry , nicotine replacement therapy , intervention (counseling) , harm , family medicine , tobacco harm reduction , nicotine , tobacco control , environmental health , public health , nursing , psychology , social psychology , pathology
Reducing the burden of physical illness among people living with severe mental illnesses ( SMI ) is a key priority. Smoking is strongly associated with SMI s resulting in excessive smoking related morbidity and mortality in smokers with SMI . Smoking cessation advice and assistance from mental health practitioners would assist with reducing smoking and smoking‐related harms in this group. This study examined the attitudes and practices of Australian mental health practitioners towards smoking cessation and tobacco harm reduction for smokers with SMI , including adherence to the 5As (ask, assess, advise, assist and arrange follow up) of smoking cessation. We surveyed 267 Australian mental health practitioners using a cross‐sectional, online survey. Most practitioners (77.5%) asked their clients about smoking and provided health education (66.7%) but fewer provided direct assistance (31.1–39.7%). Most believed that tobacco harm reduction strategies are effective for reducing smoking related risks (88.4%) and that abstinence from all nicotine should not be the only goal discussed with smokers with SMI (77.9%). Many respondents were unsure about the safety (56.9%) and efficacy (39.3%) of e‐cigarettes. Practitioners trained in smoking cessation were more likely ( OR : 2.9, CI : 1.5–5.9) to help their clients to stop smoking. Community mental health practitioners ( OR : 0.3, CI : 0.1–0.9) and practitioners who were current smokers ( OR : 0.3, CI : 0.1–0.9) were less likely to adhere to the 5As of smoking cessation intervention. The results of this study emphasize the importance and need for providing smoking cessation training to mental health practitioners especially community mental health practitioners.