Stop Smoking Therapy for Ontario Patients

Approximately 2 million Ontarians are current smokers. While smoking rates have declined over the past 25 years, these rates have remained constant since 2002. The rate of smoking cessation in Ontario has not kept up with the rest of Canada. A new strategy is necessary to increase the number of smokers making quit attempts and to increase the odds of quitting over the long term. The overall goal of the Stop Smoking Therapy for Ontario Patients (STOP) Study is to evaluate the methods and effectiveness of providing nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to Ontario smokers. The study will develop an evidence-based protocol for providing NRT, provide faculty development on combining pharmacotherapy with behavioural interventions and will provide an evaluation framework to inform future coverage models. The goal for this phase of the STOP study is to provide faculty development on combining pharmacotherapy with behavioural interventions. This will be achieved by partnering with Public Health Units across Ontario who have established smoking cessation clinics but do not have the finances in place to offer NRT to their clients at a subsidized rate or free of charge. Cost has been shown to be a significant barrier to the access and use of NRT in individuals trying to quit smoking. However, combining pharmacotherapy with behavioural interventions may be more effective than either alone. Therefore, we hypothesize that providing NRT free of charge to clients enrolled in a smoking cessation clinic will be more effective for smoking cessation than behavioural interventions alone.