Integrating tobacco cessation interventions in the routine of care of a rehabilitation hospital serving a rural population in Washington State.

The primary goal of this proposal is to implement a tobacco cessation program to ensure that smokers admitted to St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute (SLRI) receive evidence‐based tobacco cessation interventions during their hospitalization and after discharge. SLRI is located in Spokane, Washington, and is the only level 1 trauma rehabilitation hospital in the Inland Northwest.

SLRI overall tobacco use prevalence is 18% among inpatients and exceeds 34% among those less than 65 years of age. Patients identified as tobacco users have a higher length of hospital stay and require a significantly higher number of doses of pain medication than patients who do not use tobacco. 

In working towards the proposed goal, the project will provide training for clinical staff on tobacco dependence and cessation interventions; modify inpatient health records to prompt and document tobacco cessation interventions and implement an evidence‐based pharmacist‐assisted inpatient tobacco use treatment program and a discharge protocol that includes the provision of prescription for medication and referral to support for continued cessation support after hospital discharge. The project is based on the Joint Commission‐recommended measures for tobacco treatment among hospitalized smokers.

The project team is highly qualified to plan, implement and evaluate the project and includes tobacco cessation specialists, clinicians and researchers. The hospital administration supports the project.

If funded, this proposal would improve clinical practices and systems as they relate to tobacco use and dependence for a hospital that serves primarily a rural population from eastern Washington, northern Idaho, western Montana, and northeast Oregon.