Desktop Helper No. 4 - Helping patients quit tobacco - 3rd edition

This 4-page Desktop Helper aims to be a practical guide for clinicians providing Very Brief Advice (VBA). VBA works at any point during a consultation about another health matter. VBA is proven to increase the chances of an individual making a quit attempt. It is a trigger; its effectiveness increases if more clinicians use it more of the time: the readiness of the patient to respond is variable therefore if we increase the chance of them encountering a VBA trained clinician, we are more likely to catch a ready patient on the right day.

Original author: Dr Svein Hoegh Henrichsen

Author of this edition: Noel Baxter

Contributions on this edition from: Andy McEwen, Anders Østrem, Louise Restrick, Ioanna Tsiligianni

Reviewers: Sophia Papadakis, Darush Attar-Zadeh

Editor: Siân Williams

Funding: Funded by IPCRG

Date published: May 2019

For more information on tobacco dependence, including videos on helping people quit, and a practical guide with FAQs, and our Position Statement go to our Tobacco Dependence page https://www.ipcrg.org/themes/tobacco-dependence