AARC Hosts Tobacco Cessation Summit
October 10, 2005
The AARC was awarded a grant from the
Smoking Cessation Leadership Center located on the University of
California at San Francisco campus for the purposes of convening a
national summit on the important topic of tobacco cessation. Potential
participants were invited to submit answers to a questionnaire
demonstrating their expertise and commitment to making a difference in
the area of tobacco cessation. The AARC selected 15 participants from an
extensive list of potential candidates to participate in a tobacco
cessation summit at the AARC Executive Office in Irving, Texas on
October 8th and 9th.

Tobacco
Cessation Summit Participants at the AARC Executive Office
The participants were:
Janette Salo Korby, (Minnesota) Cynthia Cary, (New York), Roland
Romano (New Jersey), Alisa French, (Ohio), Sharon Grindal, (Louisiana),
Laura Van Heest, (Michigan), Christine Rossi, (Maine), Lynda Erfurth,
(Idaho), Susan Hinson, (North Carolina), Melynn Wakeman, (Arizona) Anne
Stark, (Iowa), Kimberly Hunchuk, (Pennsylvania), Mikki Thompson,
(Florida), John Wolfe, (Colorado), Karen Schell, (Kansas).
The summit was lead by a professional facilitator, Jolie Bain
Pillsbury and was also attended by Connie Revell and Reason Reyes from
the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, AARC President John Hiser and
key representatives from the AARC staff. The purpose of the summit was
to convene respiratory therapists with expert skills and experience in
tobacco cessation to develop an action plan for the profession that will
place respiratory therapists in a primary position to impact
identification of smokers and provide early intervention techniques.
The summit participants were provided with an overview of key
statistics, important findings in the scientific literature and survey
results that framed the question, “where are we now?”
Smoking Cessation
Leadership Center Deputy Director, Connie Revell addresses the summit
participants
A series of discussions combined with small break out sessions
provided direction on the key questions of “where do we want to go?” and
“how do we get there?”

John
Wolfe from Colorado makes a point during a break out session
The final result of the summit was the completion of an action plan
that contains the following major premises:
- Respiratory Therapists should be role models for a tobacco free
lifestyle.
- Respiratory Therapists are uniquely positioned to identify smokers
in hospitals and provide front line information/basic counseling on
tobacco cessation.
- RT Department Directors should be an advocate for Respiratory
Therapists providing tobacco cessation counseling in their
institutions by providing proposals to their respective CEOs.
- Training programs are needed to educate RT Directors on key
elements of tobacco cessation programs and to provide specific
training for Respiratory Therapists.
- Educating consumers and having an impact on the number of people
who use tobacco is one of the most profound areas of impact for
Respiratory Therapists. The desired affect is to decrease the
prevalence of lung disease and ease the financial burden of tobacco
related health problems.
A series of techniques and strategies will be employed by “Tobacco
Cessation Champions” throughout the United States. A key measure of
accomplishment will be increasing the number of respiratory therapists
who are involved in tobacco cessation in hospitals. A baseline survey of
over 800 respiratory therapy managers and supervisors indicated that in
25% of the reported departments, none of the Respiratory Therapists were
involved in tobacco cessation efforts. The goal of the Summit team is to
decrease that number by 5% per year over the next 3 years utilizing the
implementation plan just developed.
One of the most immediately visible parts of the implementation plan
involves asking Respiratory Therapists to indicate their level of
interest in a Tobacco-Free
Lifestyle Roundtable.
Look for a visible presence at the AARC booth at the upcoming
International Congress in San Antonio regarding the “Respiratory
Therapist’s role in Tobacco Cessation,” and stay tuned for other updates
and calls to action.