The Potential Enhancement of the Smoking Cessation Aid Called ‘Quit-Calendar’ for ‘Quit-For-King’ Project (Phase I)

Abstract

Background: Quit-For-King Project has launched from 2016 to 2019. The campaign activities, treatment &counseling, and public health network are required. Quit-Calendar was considered as a cessation aid for this project. It aimed to provide a useful reminder for smokers to specify their quit dates, learn some self-help guides, and receive pharmacological assistance. Methods: It is a cross-sectional descriptive study. One-hundred and thirty three Health promoting hospital (HPH) staff from SriSa-Ket province underwent ‘Quit-Calendar training programs included, knowledge and skills of counseling, pharmacotherapy, and steps of using Quit-Calendar. Information related to smoking cessation services at primary care units (HPH). Descriptivestatistical analysis was implemented. Results: Totally, there were 177 HPH participants enrolled to the training program. The majority was females (7.3%), have already opened smoking cessation services (93.4%) with mainly 1 to 3 year working experience (63.3%). Noticeably, smoking cessation services were mainly set up at outpatient clinics (89.8%). Most common smoking cessation services include lifestyle modification (98.4%). Regarding health policies in Sri-Sa-Ket province, only 5A counseling with ‘cold turkey’ technique, and herbal medicines were provided for the patients. Interestingly, the majority of quitters were monitored by public health volunteers who met them regularly (85.36%) not healthcare provider at the hospitals. The success keys included, the readiness of quitter, followed by clear and supportive policies and family members consecutively (38.64, 32.95, 21.59%). Conclusion: Quit-Calendar was successfully modified. Quit-Calendar was comprised into ‘Quit-For-King’ Project to enhance the success of quit rates (phase II). The preparations of HPH staff were also conducted. Further investigations of its effectiveness, users’ satisfaction and limitations of the calendar will be performed.