How the Tobacco Treatment Group Has Impacted Not Only Its Patients

For the past rotation, I have had the opportunity of working with multiple Christ Hospital Residents to facilitate a program to help our patients at Crossroad quit smoking. The Tobacco Treatment Group (TTG) started at the beginning of September and meets every Monday at 3:30 here at Crossroad. This program is based off small group discussions that let patients talk openly with Primary Care Providers, Residency Students, Pharmacy Students, and Crossroad Interns about how they can stop smoking.

The TTG started by contacting a list of over 200 Crossroad patients that are known to be smokers. Many patients did not answer, said they did not smoke or did not show interest in participating in the program. Since the meetings have started, we have had ten different patients participate in the meetings. Many of these patients have even attended meetings multiple times. During the meetings, patients are encouraged to talk about the difficulties they have faced while trying to quit. Each patient has a specified plan developed for them to help them quit. These plans are based on the amount of tobacco each patient smokes and includes different kinds of medications, patches, and even oral products such as nicotine gum or lozenges.

All the patients that have attended the TTG have shown advancements in their plans to stop smoking. Numerous patients have either quit smoking or greatly decreased the amount they have smoked just after attending one meeting! Just after the first meeting, patients were crying because they realized how bad they needed to quit. They were trading their phone numbers with each other to offer support to one another.  Some patients even brought their friends and family members to get them to also quit smoking as well to help support each other. Seeing these patients’ lives change before my eyes and knowing that I have helped them make this change for the better, has lead me to realize the impact that a Primary Care Physician can have on their patient’s life. These patients have become so appreciative of the help that we have provided them and knowing I made an impact on their lives has increased my desire to become a doctor so much more.

- By Nicki Klass