Healthcare services worldwide play a vital role in proactively addressing the tobacco epidemic in order to protect population health. So, if your healthcare service wants to get involved, this is a great place to start…
'Tobacco Free' means more than implementing a ban on smoking or tobacco use. While this is important, becoming tobacco free involves a comprehensive approach to tobacco management in which:
- Action on tobacco in all its forms is integrated into the care delivery for every service user
- Safe quality care for tobacco and nicotine dependence is provided throughout the service
- Employees are encouraged and supported to quit as part of a comprehensive workplace health promotion programme.
- The service is actively involved with the wider community to support tobacco prevention and promote tobacco cessation and reducing tobacco use
- The service is committed to a cycle of review and improvement
Based on this comprehensive approach and aligning with the broader goals of the WHO Framework Convention for Tobacco Control, the Global Network's concept assists healthcare services to systematically address tobacco use through the application of evidence based standards and a process of quality improvement based on self-audit. The good news is, this concept is accessible to all healthcare services.
Your journey starts with just three steps:
- Understanding the key elements of successful tobacco-free implementation as defined in the Global Standards
- Understanding where your healthcare service situation stands in relation to the Global Standards by using a self-audit approach
- Identifying priorities for improvement and establishing a plan for implementation.
The Global Standards which were reviewed in 2015, address EIGHT key elements known to be important in achieving outcomes for tobacco management and tobacco cessation within healthcare services:
- Governance and commitment
- Communication
- Education and training
- Identification, diagnosis and tobacco cessation support
- Tobacco-free environment
- Healthy workplace
- Community engagement
- Monitoring and evaluation
Each standard is supported by implementation criteria (specific structures and processes) to help guide healthcare services in achieving implementation and monitoring progress.
find out more about the standards
Understanding your current tobacco-free status in relation to the Global Standards is an important next step. The Global Network self-audit tool guides you in assessing your level of implementation for each standard and supports understanding of your strengths as well as demonstrating opportunities for improvement.
The self-audit and the specific implementation criteria support planning and continuous improvement in your tobacco-free journey. The process also supports prioritisation of actions and allocation of resources.
