Cessation

Scaling up Interventions for Tobacco Control and SAFE in Healthcare Settings

Work Package 7 focuses on strengthening tobacco control and implementing Smoke and Aerosol Free (SAFE) policies in European healthcare settings. It begins with an assessment and mapping of tobacco and aerosol control across EU Member States to identify gaps in staff training, infrastructure and patient care related to nicotine use. Based on these findings, WP7 develops targeted information and education strategies, including training healthcare students and staff in cessation counselling and policy promotion. The work also supports the implementation and enforcement of SAFE policies in in- and outdoor healthcare areas through dedicated tools and pilot actions, while promoting continuous improvement and network integration for sustained impact.

The work package’s mission is to develop and implement evidence-based best practices for tobacco control and SAFE within healthcare environments, ultimately enhancing the capacity of providers and supporting the effective implementation of cessation and prevention policies.

Leader

Region Zealand (RZ), Denmark

Objectives

To perform a tobacco and aerosol control assessment and planning in healthcare settings
To develop and implement communication and education strategies for tobacco control in healthcare settings
To develop and enhance networking, resource sharing and health promotion activities across healthcare settings
To promote the use of evidence-based guidelines for smoking cessation treatment
To train healthcare professionals and healthcare students to apply guidelines via e-learning and networking
To scale up existing practices for smoking cessation within healthcare settings in Europe
To design and implement materials for improving the patient journey in tobacco/nicotine cessation

Illustration for Work Package 7: Doctor with a note in hand and a patient

Actions

Planned activities

Perform healthcare settings tobacco control assessment and mapping: This identifies gaps in healthcare settings concerning staff, infrastructure, and patient care related to nicotine product use prevention and cessation, considering differences across EU MS healthcare systems.
Enhancing counselling skills to healthcare students to support smoker patients: Students are trained to effectively communicate with smoker patients, emphasizing clear communication, empathy, and providing supportive strategies for policy compliance.
To support the implementation of comprehensive SAFE in healthcare settings in Europe: This involves identifying and developing tools/interventions to support the enforcement of SAFE in outdoor healthcare areas, with subsequent pilot implementation in selected EU MS.
Scaling up the integration of promising and best practices for smoking cessation within healthcare settings: Existing cessation practices are expanded across Europe to boost quitting success or referral rates, potentially including tailored interventions for vulnerable groups.

Expected outcomes

Comprehensive database of healthcare settings classified by tobacco control readiness
Improved access to information on tobacco control measures in healthcare settings across more than five EU Member States
Enhanced training effectiveness, with an expected >30% increase in pre–post assessment scores for communication skills among healthcare students and professionals
SAFE enforcement tools developed and forwarded to the Coordinator, demonstrating practical implementation
Key deliverable:
- Final WP7 report compiling all activities and outcomes