Treatment

Populations

General Resources

The CDC provides information on specific populations.

The Clinical Practice Guideline provide some evidence on tobacco dependence treatment for special population groups.

The American Legacy Foundation Ex Campaign

Additional Resources addressing tobacco dependence in different sub-groups of the population are:

• Youth
• Women
• LGBT
• African Americans
• Hispanic
• American Indians and Alaska Natives
• Psychiatric Co-Morbidity and Chemical Dependance
• Co-Morbidity
• Pregnancy

Youth 

Tobacco use is truly a "pediatric epidemic", as the Surgeon General has described. The behavior begins during late childhood and adolescent years -- yet clinicians rarely deal with tobacco use during this period. All clinicians should discuss tobacco abstinence with parents, pediatric, and adolescent patients. Cessation interventions that have been shown to be effective with adults should be considered for use with children and adolescents.

Community and school-based behavioral interventions that are developmentally appropriate are effective ways to deliver cessation treatment. Peer involvement is recommended. Research has consistently identified a relationship between the smoking behavior of parents and adolescent smoking. Encouraging parents to quit increases adolescent quit rates. Little research has been conducted to determine the most effective mechanisms for treating adolescent tobacco use.

Clinicians are urged to openly discuss tobacco use with teenagers and to provide the following information :

• Most kids DON'T smoke or use smokeless tobacco.
• All forms of tobacco are addictive.
• Addiction takes away one's independence.
• Smoking gives you bad breath, stains your teeth, and decreases your athletic performance.
• Smoking does not make you cool , sexy or successful, as advertisements would make you believe.
• Tobacco is expensive.
• There are other ways to be different without causing severe, long-term health consequences.

Nicotine replacement should be considered only when there is strong evidence of nicotine dependence and a clear desire to quit tobacco use.

Teen-oriented tobacco cessation programs

Youth Tobacco Cessation Collaborative (YTCC) was formed in 1998 to address the gap in knowledge about what cessation strategies are most effective in assisting youth to quit smoking.

The Helping Young Smokers Quit initiative is a two-phase project that addresses the critical need to disseminate effective, developmentally appropriate cessation programs for adolescent smokers.

African Americans

National African American Tobacco Prevention Network

California Black Health Network

Hispanic

National Latino Council on Alcohol & Tobacco Prevention

The California Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Education Partnership

Asian American and Pacific Islanders

Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment and Leadership

Women

National Women's Health Information Center

Pattern of Tobacco Use Among Women and Girls — Fact Sheet provided by the CDC

LGBT

The Gay American Smoke Out

The National Coalition for LGBT Health

The Last Drag (San Francisco)

Smokers with Psychiatric Co-Morbidity/ or Chemical Dependency

Psychiatric Times provides articles on tobacco dependence and psychiatric disorders.

Help Starts Here provides information about Chemical Dependence, Psychiatric Disorders and Tobacco Addiction

Co-Morbidity

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center was one of the first centers in the country to have a service devoted specifically to managing nicotine dependence in cancer patients. The website provides information about the program that is offered.

American Diabetes Association provides information the effect smoking has on Diabetes.

American Heart Association provides information about cigarette smoking and cardiovascular diseases.

The Mayo Clinic provides information about Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Smoking cessation.

Pregnancy

All pregnant smokers should be strongly encouraged to stop smoking throughout the entire length of their pregnancy. Cutting down the amount smoked is NOT sufficient. All pregnant smokers should be offered, at the very least, a minimal intervention. Whenever possible, intensive counseling is recommended. It's never too late to quit smoking during pregnancy. Health benefits, for both the mother and fetus, can be obtained throughout the entire 9 months. See the Guideline for more information.

Maternal and Infant Health: Smoking During Pregnancy is information provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Smoking Cessation for Pregnancy and Beyond: Learn Proven Strategies to Help Your Patients Quit