Your Results

Q: My patient smokes cigarettes and has a BMI of 43, they drink 45 units of alcohol a week and their physical activity is limited. What should I do first or is it better to tackle all together?

Very Brief Advice (VBA) is our most practical tool to trigger a quit attempt, with structured behavioural support and medical treatment being the best method of quitting and ideally these are provided by stop smoking practitioners. If smokers are unwilling or unable to attend specialist stop smoking services to quit smoking support can be effectively offered by GPs within a series of standard 10-minute appointments.

ASK : ADVISE : ACT Using VBA does not depend on the person's readiness to quit and you do not need to assess it before you start Very Brief Advice or VBA is a simple and powerful approach designed to be used opportunistically in less than 30 seconds in almost any consultation with a smoker. VBA is a public health intervention delivered in a one-to-one health setting and can be delivered by any professional.

Please read the guidance notes which provide potential steps and questions to ask when using the Asthma Slide Rule.

PCRS believe that it is the responsibility of every healthcare professional to treat tobacco dependency systematically and effectively. PCRS advocate that people wishing to quit using tobacco should be offered the most effective but also the least harmful methods first to support a quit attempt. People wishing to use nicotine e-cigarettes to quit should be encouraged to use the support offered by NHS stop smoking services including the ‘swap to stop’ scheme in England. A tobacco quit attempt should be followed ultimately by stopping e-cigarette use as well due to safety concerns.

Tobacco dependency is a long-term relapsing condition that usually starts in childhood This tobacco dependency pragmatic guide is a practical, immediately implementable, evidence-based framework to enable healthcare professionals to routinely identify smokers, encourage a quit attempt and support that quit attempt within the real-world context of their own professional sphere.

Dr Roy Robertson is a Professor of Addiction Medicine at the Usher Institute of Population Health Sciences and Informatics at the University of Edinburgh. He has spent much of his career on the frontline of Edinburgh’s heroin problem working as a GP on the Muirhouse estate.

In the third in our series of snapshot case vignettes aimed at illustrating self-management opportunities Dr Iain Small brings you the case of Gerald. Three healthcare professionals have provided their feedback on the case. How would you respond?

Are you interested in or concerned about respiratory care and services in your area? Would you like to improve the quality of care for patients with respiratory disease and feel you need some help to make that case to your practice manager or local commissioner? All it needs is just one person to take the initiative. That's how change starts and that's who you will meet on this course. Find out more about our Respiratory Leadership Programme.