Introduction
Frequent smoking can lead to addiction to substances such as tobacco and major health issues, (Glantz and Bareham, 2018). Putting an end to smoking has numerous advantages: it enhances and improves the quality of life; it lowers the risk of early death and can add a couple of years to average life span; it lowers the risk of various negative health effects, such as; Poor reproductive health chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer are all risks. Because earlier quitting of smoking in life offers more health advantages, quitting at any given age is of benefit to one’s health, (Orsal and Ergun, 2021). With this knowledge, this paper will focus on the critical significance of behavioral therapies in motivating and encouraging attempts to quit smoking. Approaches to facilitate behavior change in relation to smoking cessation and how these approaches may be modified to improve the outcome.
Smoking Cessation Approaches to Facilitate Behavioral Change
Quitting smoking reduces an individual’s chances of acquiring smoking-related diseases. Quitting smoking is one greatly significant step people can take to enhance their well-being. This is true regardless of how old an individual is or the length of the smoking experience. Persons who are long time smokers or smoked in big amounts eventually benefit greatly by quitting. Majority of adults who smoke wish to quit. For most people, quitting smoking is a top priority. Half of those who have ever smoked have been successful in quitting. To date, smoking cessation programs have generally aimed at people who are intentional about quitting and can make a clear commitment to do so on a “quit day”. Theories of behavior change have an impact on smoking cessation programs, (Gallucci et al., 2020). Behavioral therapies include counseling, conversation, motivation, and other activities geared toward assisting quit attempts. Behavioral change strategies, such as motivational interviewing techniques and self-efficacy, are frequently employed in interventions Developing motivation is a critical component of treatment for addiction of tobacco. Generally, as it enhances smokers’ passion, feeling of belonging, and urge to stop. Self-regulatory competence and abilities may also be emphasized in interventions. Strategies for minimizing exposure to smoking signals are included in these therapies. Adjuvant activities, such as providing pharmacological guidance and increasing social support from family and group members, are critical. Wherever possible, interventions should be adapted to the specific of the individual as well as the individual’s ability to gain access to the intervention.
Specific behavioral counseling, intervention programs, telephone counseling sessions, group behavioral therapy programs, and self-help resources are the most prevalent and widely available interventions.
- Brief Interventions
A health care professional’s brief advice on smoking cessation is useful in encouraging quitting. This type of guidance, especially from general practitioners, causes a small number of smokers who get it to quit smoking for a period of at least 6 months. A great percentage of smokers try to quit in response to a general practitioner’s counselling. This type of advice mainly functions by inducing a quit trial, (Wang et al., 2019). The 5As strategy, which has been implemented in various countries throughout the world, provides a valuable framework for arranging brief interventions for smoking cessation and advice for health practitioners who are not specialists in smoking cessation.
The 5As strategy aids in the initial identification of individuals who smoke by urging health practitioners to; First, “ask” clients or patients if they smoke tobacco or use it. Secondly, it suggests that health practitioners “assess” whether patient is willing to quit smoking, “advice” them on the importance of putting an end to smoking; provide “assistance” in the form of medication and referral to behavioral health services, and, if possible, “arrange” a patient follow-up appointment with patients who intend to quit smoking. A number of impediments have been identified, including the necessity for a time saving technique. However much brief interventions are reported to take only 5 to 10 minutes, in certain time-constrained appointments, clinicians struggle to devote this amount of time to smoking talks. Because of these concerns, brief advice on smoking is a new type of intervention being practiced more recently. The most effective methods of developing attempts to quit are advising people on the most effective way to stop and providing treatment and aid, wherever it is locally available.
- Individual behavioral therapy individual
behavioral therapy involves face-to-face visits with a counselor who is a professional smoking cessation counselor. This type of behavioral intervention is aimed at increasing an individual’s motivation to modify their habits, (Kock et al., 2019). This patient-focused technique increases a person’s readiness for change using recognition of reluctance to change and self-examination, followed by a resolution that leads to positive behavior change that is long term. Sessions are usually held once every week for at least four weeks after the quit date, and they are normally accompanied by prescribed medication. Several shorter sessions appear to be more helpful than a single long session. Individual behavioral counseling can also provide tips on how to gradually lower the number of cigarettes.
- Behavioral group treatment
Behavioral group treatment is a type of treatment provided to small groupings of patients and includes counsel, sensitization and, in most situations, behavioral modification. Individuals can develop behavioral strategies and get peer support from group members. Group therapy, just as individual counseling, is frequently paired with medicine, (McClure et al., 2018). Those who participated in group behavioral programs had twice the chances of quitting compared to person’s who get self-help material but lack direct behavioral support. Currently, it’s uncertain whether groupings are more beneficial than individual treatment.
- Self-help materials
Structured programs and manuals personally used by individuals without the assistance of skilled counselors, health professionals, or support groups are examples of self-help materials. Typically, they are materials offered by government health departments and health charities in formats such as movies, audio recordings and Internet-based materials, (Livingstone-Banks et al., 2019). These products may be addressed at the overall population of smokers or at specific populations. When compared to no intervention, the use of self-help materials is likely to have a minimal influence on quit rates. When these self-help materials are customized to particular smokers, a minor benefit is observed.
- Innovative technology
With the development of modern technology such as easier Internet access and smartphones several other sorts of intervention are now possible. Using text message in places like the United States, such as txt2Quit, has been established with some success employing encouraging messages, (Nabi-Burza et al., 2019). Several studies have indicated that this form of intervention is successful. As technology improves, it is vital that, as with other types of smoking cessation information, support and guidance interventions offered in this method be evidence-based. Most new smartphone applications are not supported by evidence.
Despite evidence that brief smoking cessation interventions are of great benefit in boosting cessation efforts, several researchers have discovered that delivery by health care providers is frequently unsatisfactory. The main issues include time and service limits, the risk of harming relationships with patients, and lack of professionals’ belief in the effectiveness of smoking cessation therapies, (Georges et al., 2019). Another significant hurdle is that professionals frequently lack proper training and faith in their own competence bring up the subject of smoking cessation and convey suitable information and guidance. Furthermore, records of smoking status are frequently lacking. As a result, it is critical that state of smoking be noted in the records of patients’ health to ensure accessibility to interventions is provided and that follow-up is carried out. Finally, given the 5As technique is widely employed, current evidence suggests that the very brief advice may be more relevant in supporting effective smoking dialogues in time-constrained contexts.
To assist more people quit smoking and stay smoke-free, all health providers play a role in offering interventions for smoking cessation. Programs administered by a varied set of clinical health practitioners outperform interventions delivered by a one health discipline, and nurse intervention in supporting fellow health professionals’ smoking cessation advice has a substantial influence in enabling smokers to quit., (Ockene et al., 2019). It has been demonstrated that information and advice from nursing personnel improve patients’ chances of quitting, particularly in a hospital setup. Similar counsel offered as part of routine checkups and prevention actions appears to be less helpful, but it may still have an influence. During dental health exams, oral health providers and dentists have an excellent chance to inquire about their patients’ status of smoking and provide information on smoking cessation and assistance. While brief advice should be provided by all experts and so have a broad reach, intensive help is most successful when provided by specialist advisors.
Conclusion
In conclusion, smoking continues to be a major contributor to early deaths and the global burden of disability and disease. Using the 5As technique or very brief guidance is a vital first step in the chain of assistance recognized to be beneficial in helping cessation. Support for quitting smoking is best provided by health professionals who have the necessary expertise and abilities. These various kinds of assistance, when paired with medication, dramatically boost an individual’s chances of successfully quitting smoking.
References
GALLUCCI, G., TARTARONE, A., LEROSE, R., LALINGA, A. and CAPOBIANCO, A., 2020. Cardiovascular risk of smoking and benefits of smoking cessation. Journal of Thoracic Disease, 12(7), pp.3866-3876.
GEORGES, A., GALBIATI, L. and CLAIR, C., 2019. Smoking in men and women with type 2 diabetes: A qualitative gender-sensitive exploration of barriers to smoking cessation among people with type 2 diabetes. PLOS ONE, 14(8), p.e0221783.
GLANTZ, S. and BAREHAM, D., 2018. E-Cigarettes: Use, Effects on Smoking, Risks, and Policy Implications. Annual Review of Public Health, 39(1), pp.215-235.
KOCK, L., BROWN, J., HISCOCK, R., TATTAN-BIRCH, H., SMITH, C. and SHAHAB, L., 2019. Individual-level behavioural smoking cessation interventions tailored for disadvantaged socioeconomic position: a systematic review and meta-regression. The Lancet Public Health, 4(12), pp.e628-e644.
LIVINGSTONE-BANKS, J., ORDÓÑEZ-MENA, J. and HARTMANN-BOYCE, J., 2019. Print-based self-help interventions for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019(1).
MCCLURE, J., BRICKER, J., MULL, K. and HEFFNER, J., 2018. Comparative Effectiveness of Group-Delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy versus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Smoking Cessation: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 22(3), pp.354-362.
NABI-BURZA, E., WINICKOFF, J., DREHMER, J., GORZKOWSKI, J., KLEIN, J., LEVY, D., OSSIP, D., REGAN, S., RIGOTTI, N. and HIPPLE WALTERS, B., 2019. Innovations in parental smoking cessation assistance delivered in the child healthcare setting. Translational Behavioral Medicine, 10(4), pp.1039-1052.
OCKENE, J., LINDSAY, E., BERGER, L. and HYMOWITZ, N., 1990. Health Care Providers as Key Change Agents in the Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation (COMMIT). International Quarterly of Community Health Education, 11(3), pp.223-237.
ORSAL, O. AND ERGUN, A., 2021. The Effect of Peer Education on Decision-Making, Smoking-Promoting Factors, Self-Efficacy, Addiction, and Behavior Change in the Process of Quitting Smoking of Young People. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, Volume 14, pp.925-945.
WANG, M., LUK, T., WU, Y., LI, W., CHEUNG, D., KWONG, A., LAI, V., CHAN, S. and LAM, T., 2019. Chat-based instant messaging support integrated with brief interventions for smoking cessation: a community-based, pragmatic, cluster-randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Digital Health, 1(4), pp.e183-e192.