Highlights
- Approximately 1,000 more patients per month are screened for tobacco use compared to a year and a half ago.
- New cancer patients have a lot to gain from quitting using tobacco, including lower risks of treatment side effects and complications, leading to better outcomes.
- The consistency in reporting tobacco screening across cancer centres has improved, which has allowed for more accurate tracking of tobacco screening rates.
Over the past year and a half, there has been a consistent increase in the number of new cancer patients reported as having been screened for tobacco use across Ontario. Approximately a thousand more new patients were screened in August 2016 (3,272 patients) than in April 2015 (2,249 patients), which translates to an increase in reported tobacco screening from 42% in April 2015 to 63% in August 2016. This increase is the result of Cancer Care Ontario’s efforts to support Regional Cancer Programs (RCPs) in identifying tobacco users among the 5,500 new ambulatory (non-hospitalized) cancer patients registered each month across Ontario and connecting them with appropriate smoking cessation services.
Screening their patients for recent tobacco use gives healthcare providers an opportunity to provide information on how cessation can improve treatment outcomes and to recommend smoking cessation services. People with cancer who stop using tobacco may experience benefits such as better survival and improved responses to cancer treatment, as well as decreased treatment-related toxicity, decreased wound healing complications and reduced risk of cancer recurrence.[1]
People with cancer who are identified as tobacco users are educated about the benefits of cessation and provided with cessation resources within the cancer centre (e.g., cessation counselling) or in the community (e.g., Smokers’ Helpline, public health units). Referrals to community resources require strong partnerships with external organizations to ensure that patients are supported in their quitting efforts away from the hospital environment.
The improvements in reported tobacco screening may be due to several factors. One factor may involve the relationships that Cancer Care Ontario has fostered with the RCPs through their Smoking Cessation Champions, who lead local efforts to raise awareness and build internal capacity within their cancer centres to identify and support tobacco users to quit. This group of Champions convenes monthly to share successes and challenges with other RCPs’ Champions and with Cancer Care Ontario. In addition, Cancer Care Ontario has implemented quarterly performance reviews for tobacco screening that hold the RCPs’ executive leadership accountable for their rates.
The RCPs have also trained their frontline staff in the importance of screening patients for tobacco use, held grand rounds with physicians, developed smoking cessation resources and updated documentation practices. This collaboration between Cancer Care Ontario and the RCPs provides both groups with valuable information to help ensure the best treatment outcomes for each person.
For more detail on the tobacco screening initiative described above or helping tobacco users quit, please email Cancer Care Ontario’s Smoking Cessation Program.