Process of discussion

Application to practice

Raise the issue of

smoking

Brief intervention might ask:

Have you used tobacco in the past 6 months?

Do you currently use tobacco?

How often do you use tobacco?

Have you ever tried to stop or thought about stopping?

What strategies or medications did you use?

If Joe is comfortable to discuss his smoking habit with you, the conversation can be developed. Ensure that you choose to have this discussion in a private quiet room where you are likely not to be disturbed.

Explore current awareness

How well informed is Joe about the risks of smoking?

Ask Joe what he knows about the impact of his current behaviour.

Gauge his understanding and correct any inaccuracies in the information he has.

Give Joe facts and ask how he feels about the information you have given. Examples may include:

• People who smoke, under the age of 40 years have a 5 times greater risk of heart attack than people who do not smoke

• Smoking causes approximately 80% of deaths from lung cancer, approximately 80% of deaths from bronchitis and emphysema and around 14% of deaths from heart disease
• smokers die on average 10 years younger than those who do not smoke

Screening tools may be a useful resource

• Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST)

• http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/activities/assist/en/

• The Brief MAST

• The brief version of the Minnesota Alcohol Screening Test (Brief MAST) is another tool for assessing alcohol dependence.

• https://preventionforme.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/BriefMAST.pdf

Summarise information

Recap on the information that Joe has told you to make sure you understand exactly what he has said

Is your interpretation of what Joe has told you correct?
Joe knows that smoking is not good for his health but he never thought anything bad would ever happen to him…he knows that to reduce the risk of him having another heart attack, he needs to stop smoking or at best reduce his current habit

Listen for signs of readiness to change

Listen for verbal cues that the person is ready to change…Examples of readiness may include: I want…I can…I need…I will…

Choose a suitable approach

Depending on the person’s readiness to change, use the route MAP to support them.