Barriers to smoking interventions in community healthcare settings: a scoping review

Abstract

Smoking is one of the major causes of preventable death and is considered the greatest threat to global public health. While the prevalence of smoking has decreased, population growth has led to an increase in the absolute number of smokers. There are many proven smoking cessation interventions available to support smokers in their quit attempts. Most people who smoke, however, underutilize the treatments available to them. This scoping review aimed to identify the current barriers experienced by all stakeholders (smokers, service providers and policymakers) to existing evidence-based smoking cessation interventions in community healthcare settings. Five electronic databases (CINAHL, Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Scopus and Web of Science) were searched for relevant literature. A total of 40 eligible articles from different countries published between 2015 and 2022 were included in the review and content analysis carried out to identify the key barriers to smoking cessation interventions. Seven key themes were found to be common to all stakeholders: (i) literacy, (ii) competing demands and priorities, (iii) time, (iv) access to product, (v) access to service, (vi) workforce and (vii) motivation/readiness. These themes were mapped to the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation-Behaviour (COM-B) model. This study presents the effect the barriers within these themes have on current smoking cessation services and highlights priorities for future interventions.

Intensive Intervention on Smoking Cessation in Patients Undergoing Elective Surgery: The Role of Family Physicians

“…The current evidence-based interventions for smoking cessation encompass behavioural treatments, quit lines, web-based support services, and pharmacotherapy. These interventions have proven to be effective in aiding smoking cessation when employed individually, and even greater success has been observed when combining pharmacotherapy with behavioural support [ 14 ]. A combination of behavioural therapy and biochemical validation with the help of well-trained medical professionals produced promising results [ 15 ].…”