Evaluation of Efficacy and Patient Satisfaction for Smoking Cessation Group Visits

Indianapolis, IN

To increase patient’s access to care, a standardized approach to tobacco cessation group visits has been started throughout Community Health Network. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of tobacco cessation group counseling after 3 months, patient demographics that lead to improved cessation rates, and patient satisfaction with the group counseling services. The group visits began in November 2017 and occur once weekly over four weeks. Participation is voluntary and any patient who currently smokes is eligible to participate. Data was collected through a survey at baseline, following each counseling session, and three months following the cessation of the program. To date, there has been one smoking cessation group visit completed, involving 7 patients with an average of 4.5 patients per session. Results from the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence at baseline showed that 86% (n=6) of patients had a moderate to high dependence to nicotine, with all patients reported smoking 20 or more cigarettes a day. Upon completion of the program, 100% of patients agreed or strongly agreed to being more confident in quitting smoking and 100% of patients indicated the speaker covered helpful information, kept their attention, and answered their questions. The preliminary results from this pilot program support the continuation of the smoking cessation groups visits; however, follow up to determine patient cessation rates upon completion of the program is needed. Additional smoking cessation group visits are planned to create an established program, and to allow for continued evaluation of patient satisfaction.