The Great American Smokeout - An Empathic Opportunity

Though any time is a good time to quit smoking,  November 15, 2012 is the 37th annual Great American Smokeout, or GASO, a day when hundreds of thousands of smokers will try to stay cigarette free.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States, with approximately 443,000 U.S. adults dying from smoking-related illnesses each year!

 

The good news is that stopping smoking will provide some immediate health benefits. For example, your risk for having a stroke, heart attack or other cardiovascular event are reduced dramatically as soon as you quit smoking. Moreover, the risks of developing a smoking-associated cancer or other tobacco use-related condition also diminish over time.

 

Even if you don't smoke, someone you love may be a smoker and might benefit from quitting smoking during the GASO, or as a New Year's resolution, or any time!

 

So, what does this have to do with empathy and why am I writing about the Great American Smokeout here? 

 

Well, I can't help myself. As a physician, I have seen the ravaging effects that smoking has had on my patients and those who love them. As an educator, I have spent a good part of my career trying to help caring clinicians feel more prepared and confident about assisting their patients who smoke. And as a researcher,  I know that even a small dose of clinician empathy and a little advice and support improves smoking cessation outcomes.

 

So, if you are a smoker, take this opportunity to think about quitting. If you love a smoker, tell them you care about them and want to support them in their efforts to stay healthy. If you are a clinician, ask your patients who smoke if you can help them address their smoking.

 

The good news is that many forms of effective smoking cessation treatment, including medication, counseling and support, are now readily available:

• Medications reduce symptoms of nicotine withdrawal and improve rates of quitting. Some nicotine replacement therapies (e.g., patch, gum, lozenge) are available over-the-counter while others (i.e., nicotine inhaler and spray; bupropion; varenicline) are available by prescription;
• Behavioral counseling, alone or when provided with medication, improves quit rates. Counseling is provided in individual and group formats and also via free state-supported telephone quit lines; and
• Online quit programs and mobile aps also show great promise.

For quitting resources and more on the Great American Smokeout, go to the American Cancer Society page at: http://www.cancer.org/healthy/stayawayfromtobacco/greatamericansmokeout/index

For a wonderful Youtube video by Dr. Mike Evans on how to quit smoking see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0zvG2vSjrA&feature=share&list=PL9FF73EC555CB6855

And for addition quitting resources see the National Cancer Institute site at: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/tobacco/smoking

New Posting of The Empowered Patient on MPN Forum

The September issue of MPN Forum, an online forum for patients with myeloprolifeative neoplasms. included a column entitled, "Can Clinicians Empower Patients?" and is based on a previous post here.

Enjoy and please comment either here on on the Forum. The link to the column is: http://mpnforum.com/2011/10/12/the-empowered-patient-the-clinicians-role/



Michael

Comment to a Paulene Chen Column

The post below was originally made on a NYT Blog, "Do Doctors Have Time for Empathy?" (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/do-doctors-have-time-for-empathy/)
that was linked to a column written by Paulene Chen, MD. Dr. Chen, a transplant surgeon, has a wonderful column, Doctor and Patient, that appears regularly in the NYT. The original column was entitled, Taking Time for Empathy, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/health/chen25.html

I recommend reading Dr. Chen's columns, as well as the comments available for each column. See also the links listed at the end of my post.

Here is the post:

I hope this does not sound self-serving. My entire professional life as a physican, teacher, researcher, consultant has been devoted to promoting empathy and patient and family-centered care within the context of clinician-patient interactions. I am passionate about empathy.
So, soon after getting an e-mail with a link to Dr. Chen’s moving column, I eagerly read every word of every comment listed here. I found myself resonating with many comments….especially by those of you who were willing to share their stories about their experience as patients and family members.

As Drs. Back, Chen and others have noted in their comments, there is now a growing body of research indicating that empathy matters. Clinician empathy is associated with a range of outcomes including not only patient satisfaction and trust, but also follow-through with medical recommendations and improved health care status.

There is also a growing evidence base indicating that empathy can indeed by taught, at any level, even years after completing professional training. Training is necessary but not sufficient. Even though most schools have courses in clinician-patient communication - I used to help run one - the “hidden curriculum, which refers to negative role-modeling from less enlightened faculty can undermine more formal educational opportunities. As several physicians have mentioned on in this thread, it was the example of their mentors that had the most lasting impression on them. We need more caring, empathic medical faculty (like Drs. Back and Chen) who walk the walk, as well as talk the talk.

I could go on…but I rather read what you all are writing. Thanks so much for this opportunity to read and respond.

BTW, if anyone wants to learn about efforts to teach empathy and other core communication skills to health care professionals see: http://www.healthcarecomm.org/ and http://www.aachonline.org/.

Michael Goldstein
From Pauline Chen: Thank you, Dr. Goldstein, for all your important and hopeful work in this area and for including those links.— Michael Goldstein