In this bonus episode of Medication Talk, join us for an extended conversation with our expert panel as we go beyond the original webinar and podcast episode to share brand-new insights and never-before-heard content.
Listen in as we dive deeper into practical strategies for starting conversations with patients about tobacco use, plus additional perspectives on nicotine’s effects and health risks, emerging therapies, non-drug approaches, and how to make smoking cessation part of everyday pharmacy practice.
**No CE Credit is available for this bonus episode.**
Special guest:
- Robin Corelli, PharmD, CTTS, FCSHP
- Professor of Clinical Pharmacy
- School of Pharmacy
- University of California, San Francisco
You’ll also hear practical advice from panelists on TRC’s Editorial Advisory Board:
- Stephen Carek, MD, CAQSM, DipABLM
- Clinical Associate Professor of Family Medicine
- Prisma Health/USC-SOMG Family Medicine Residency Program
- USC School of Medicine Greenville
- Craig D. Williams, PharmD, FNLA, BCPS
- Clinical Professor of Pharmacy Practice
- Oregon Health and Science University
None of the speakers have anything to disclose.
This podcast is an excerpt from one of TRC’s monthly live CE webinars; the full webinar originally aired in November 2025. Plus, it includes brand-new insights and never-before-heard content.
The clinical resources related to this podcast are part of a subscription to Pharmacist’s Letter, Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, and Prescriber Insights:
- Chart: Smoking Cessation Drug Therapy
- FAQ: E-Cigarettes and Vaping
- Article: Help Patients Send Their Vaping Habits Up in Smoke
Use code mt1026b at checkout for 10% off a new or upgraded subscription.
Email us: [email protected].
The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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Transcript:
This transcript is automatically generated.
Introduction
00:00:07 Robin Corelli
One of the things that we always think about with the cigarette, which is perhaps the most heavily engineered consumer product, is that when used as intended, it will pretty predictably reduce a person’s life expectancy by 10 years.
00:00:22 Robin Corelli
And quitting at any age is beneficial. It’s never too late to quit to derive some benefit.
00:00:29 Craig Williams
No one’s admitted for tobacco cessation, that’s not why you’re hospitalized. You may be hospitalized for a complication of it, but you’re not there just to get nicotine replacement or a product to help you quit.
00:00:39 Craig Williams
But it is a great opportunity for us to have a discussion with patients often in the setting of a health complication that’s related. So, if they weren’t previously open to smoking cessation, they might be now.
00:00:53 Narrator
Welcome to Medication Talk, an official podcast of TRC Healthcare, home of Pharmacist’s Letter, Prescriber Insights, and the most trusted clinical resources.
00:01:02 Narrator
On this special BONUS episode, we’re bringing you something different… an extended conversation with our expert panel from our recent live webinar.
00:01:11 Narrator
This discussion goes beyond what you heard in the original broadcast and our last podcast episode, with brand-new insights and never-before-heard content.
00:01:20 Narrator
If your patients are making New Year’s resolutions to quit smoking or vaping, this episode is packed with tips to help you guide them toward success.
00:01:29 Narrator
We dive deeper into practical strategies for starting conversations about tobacco use, plus additional perspectives on nicotine’s effects and health risks, new drug therapies in the pipeline, non-drug approaches, and how to incorporate smoking cessation into practice.
00:01:45 Narrator
And just so you know—this bonus episode does NOT include continuing education credit.
00:01:49 Narrator
We wanted to share these extra insights because they’re too good to keep to ourselves!
00:01:54 Narrator
Our featured guest is Dr. Robin Corelli, Professor of Clinical Pharmacy at the U-C-S-F School of Pharmacy… and a Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist at the UCSF Health Fontana Tobacco Treatment Center.
00:02:09 Narrator
You’ll also hear practical advice from members of TRC’s Editorial Advisory Board; Dr. Stephen Carek from the USC School of Medicine Greenville and Dr. Craig Williams from the Oregon Health and Science University.
00:02:21 Narrator
Now, let’s join TRC Editors, Drs Stephen Small and Sara Klockars, and start our discussion!
Effects of Nicotine
00:02:30 Sara Klockars
So Robin, can you start us off with what are the effects of nicotine and why is it so hard to quit?
00:02:38 Robin Corelli
This is a great question. We’re talking about nicotine, which is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. It’s essentially right up there with crab, cocaine, heroin, opiates. And why is it? Well, we know that when you, especially by smoking or vaping. Now, when you inhale, we have such amazing surface area of the lungs.
00:02:58 Robin Corelli
In the good circulation that you have nicotine reaching the brain in about 10 to 15 seconds, that’s about 5 heartbeats.
00:03:07 Robin Corelli
And what it does is you know rapid absorption, it binds to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain and it stimulates the release of a multitude of neurotransmitters. Probably the most important of which is dopamine. And people are probably familiar with that, that it’s the, the feel good neurotransmitter.
00:03:28 Robin Corelli
You know, that stimulates feeling, induces symptoms of pleasure and very reinforcing. But there are other, you know, norepinephrine, serotonin, acetylcholine, glutamate, endorphins. And all of these together, the whole constellation of these. But in particular, dopamine causes a stimulating effect. It’s also very rewarding.
00:03:48 Robin Corelli
You have this really scary combination that leads to addiction.
00:03:53 Robin Corelli
But other things that maybe to take a little bit more of that there is you know receptor up regulation that if you constantly are exposing the brain to nicotine, well the brain responds by increasing the number of nicotinic receptors get to compensate for that. So it ends up happening is people actually need more nicotine to get the same effect, meaning that they become tolerant.
00:04:15 Robin Corelli
So you have all of this with a drug that has a very short half life.
00:04:20 Robin Corelli
You know, two hours approximately. So people need to dose themselves repeatedly throughout the day or they experienced symptoms of withdrawal. And so you have that dose response and you have that cycle going over and over. So it’s really, really challenging to quit. It is not a bad habit. It is an addiction.
Health Risks of Tobacco Use
00:04:42 Sara Klockars
Thank you. And can you briefly review other health risks of tobacco use?
00:04:48 Robin Corelli
We know that the health risk of nicotine when it’s delivered because up until the nicotine patches, we don’t really deliver nicotine by itself when it’s with tobaccos, you’re getting about 8000 different chemicals. Many of these are known carcinogens. So well, nicotine by in large for most people is not.
00:05:08 Robin Corelli
A harmful component of tobacco. It’s the hook that keeps people addicted.
00:05:13 Robin Corelli
So I would say that, but we think about things, of course, obviously cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, other chronic conditions, osteoporosis, infertility. I mean, the list goes on and on. There’s really almost not an organ system that isn’t affected by tobacco use here in particularly tobacco smoke.
00:05:34 Stephen Carek
Yeah. I mean in summary, something I teach our residents is that, you know, getting someone to cease tobacco use is probably the most life altering thing they can do. Is things going to help them live a longer, happier, healthier life. But it’s challenging. It’s very challenging.
00:05:48 Robin Corelli
Yeah. And one of the things that we always think about with the cigarette, which is perhaps the most heavily engineered consumer product, is that when used as intended, it will pretty predictably reduce a person’s life expectancy by 10 years and quitting at any age is beneficial. It’s never too late to quit to derive some benefit.
Starting Conversations with Patients
00:06:11 Sara Klockars
Excellent conversation. I did want to talk a little bit about starting the conversations, Steven, if you want to start us off with, how do you ask your patients about tobacco use?
00:06:25 Stephen Carek
Every visit patients are screened for tobacco use at least once annually, but I honestly think that.
00:06:31 Stephen Carek
With our current workflows, they’re probably asked every patient is asked, probably every visit and that sort of just serves that opportunity. I think to continue to reinforce just the the import of…
00:06:44 Stephen Carek
Addressing this with patients reminding providers if they are continuing to smoke, just assessing where they may be at in their stages of change, but me when I said them talk with patients on top of managing their made several comorbidities. I think it’s always important to say hey, how are things going with if they are smoking, how are things going in terms of tobacco use, how you feeling about it?
00:07:04 Stephen Carek
Just getting their insight and understanding how do they feel? I mean, some patients may be in the stage of of resisting to quit or may be pre contemplative and not desiring to. Some may be, you know, after we’ve talked about heart disease and hypertension like you know I think that.
00:07:18 Stephen Carek
Tobacco use could be contributing to some of these things. What are your thoughts like? Do you know what you know? If you were to stop smoking? What that?
00:07:24 Stephen Carek
Would look like how?
00:07:25 Stephen Carek
That would feel to you really trying to engage the patients perspective, understand their background, something down the level, what cigarettes they smoke, what types of cigarettes they smoke or how long they smoked or even some of their, you know, memories associated with tobacco use… just to understand.
00:07:39 Stephen Carek
The depth and degree of maybe their their use maybe and then try to build that therapeutic trust so that we continue to counsel that hopefully over time we’re.
00:07:46 Stephen Carek
And to reframe the conversation, hopefully motivate them to begin the process of acknowledging they would like to stop smoking and hopefully good on the pathway to reducing tobacco use and eventually hopefully quitting tobacco use.
00:08:00 Craig Williams
Yeah, let’s add and speak to briefly. You know, most of my last two decades has been more on the hospital side and it’s both kind of unique and challenging situation to approach this. But for all the listeners who are kind of hospital based in their practice, it’s a luxury.
00:08:12 Craig Williams
To have multiple days with patients in this setting, and as you say, no one’s admitted for tobacco cessation, that’s not why you’re hospitalized. You may be hospitalized for a complication of it, but you’re not there just to get nicotine replacement or a product to help you quit. But it is a great opportunity for us.
00:08:28 Craig Williams
To have a discussion with patients often in the setting of health complication, that’s related, so.
00:08:34 Craig Williams
But if they weren’t previously opened to smoking cessation, they might be now, as a result of why, from the hospital setting. And we’re about a decade and 1/2 into a formal nicotine replacement kind of pop.
00:08:45 Craig Williams
At the hospital to at least stamp down some of the cravings that may occur because obviously you can’t smoke while you’re in the hospital, but the way we usually approach that conversation because again, it’s not why the patients are there, but really when we get to that part of what we’re working on that patients really kind of how can we help you or what we do to help you think about.
00:09:04 Craig Williams
Again, moving towards contemplation and moving beyond that, but we really take it as like we’re here to support you. We’re never their primary provider. So we often don’t know the patient too well and and our approach is you know where you at and how can we help you get further down that paradigm that’s even referred to.
00:09:21 Robin Corelli
And if I can piggyback on that too. And and the institutional side, it’s such a teachable moment when somebody is in the hospital for.
00:09:30 Robin Corelli
Many times a smoking attributable condition here is a just a wonderful opportunity to initiate nicotine replacement therapy while we’re in the hospital because you know you don’t. I don’t. I I’m. I don’t know how it is across the country, but in at least in the hospitals in California you can’t smoke while you’re in the hospital.
00:09:50 Robin Corelli
And so having starting somebody on a patch and potentially even with short acting, making replacement therapy as needed, they can begin to see that this actually does alleviate symptoms of withdrawal. So it’s a it’s a great opportunity to at least begin that that’s begin treatment. And even if they’re not ready, at least they can see this as a potential option down the road.
00:10:14 Craig Williams
Yeah, that’s very true. And I’ll say being hospitalized does different things to a patients desire to smoke. Sometimes they’re sick to the point where they don’t miss as much they thought they would, and other times they’re so anxious, you know, many patients will take their smoke breaks and still go out and smoke. But for those that are there who can do it out, it’s, you know, if they’re there beyond three days and they’ve not smoked.
00:10:35 Craig Williams
And they’re using or not using a nicotine replacement product. We’ll start congratulating them for, you know, hey, it’s day five, day six. You’ve not had the cigarettes. And I know for a handful of them, that’s the beginning of their long term cessation.
00:10:48 Robin Corelli
I just want to say about how can pharmacists and pharmacy technicians play a role in assessing starting conversations as it relates to smoking cessation?
00:10:58 Robin Corelli
We’ve been working with a number of Community pharmacies on this is obviously very different from a acute care and ambulatory care where you may know somebody smoking status and.
00:11:08 Robin Corelli
In these settings providers have to actually ask because people are not going to necessarily divulge that. So they advocate that that is actually part of your data collection, just like you would collect insurance status or allergies or address.
00:11:27 Robin Corelli
Asking about patient smoking stuff as tobacco use.
00:11:30 Robin Corelli
And then hopefully documenting that in your system such that it can actually check for potentially harmful drug interactions with tobacco smoke. And we’ve had a number of times where our technicians and pharmacists are reluctant to ask that question. Ooh, someone will think I’m crying.
00:11:48 Robin Corelli
Well, we know that patients are used to being asked this question in all, in most healthcare settings and of course, a pharmacy is a healthcare setting. So if there is somebody who has a question, you know you you can add that into your profile and we work with technicians.
00:12:03 Robin Corelli
That you know when someone comes up, they ask him if there been any any changes to your insurance. Is your address still this? Any new drug allergies can also add long into that. And do you smoke or use any form of nicotine, including vaping?
00:12:19 Robin Corelli
And ask and and be able to ask that question. Now most people answer that question. They’re used to answering it, and if someone, if a patient were to have, you know, why are you asking me that?
00:12:29 Robin Corelli
Well, it’s important for us to screen that to safely dispense your prescriptions because tobacco smoke actually has potentially harmful drug interactions with some prescription medicines and of course that is well received by patients and they want to know about that. So that is something that is different in that practice setting, but we know and working with huge numbers of pharmacy teams, it can be implemented. You just have to get started and incorporate it as part of your practice.
00:12:59 Sara Klockars
Excellent points and just wanted to bring us back to the stages of change. I think you guys each mentioned this and how, how do you approach patients at different stages of change? How does that conversation look?
00:13:14 Stephen Carek
I think the language that you use is incredibly important in trying to partner with the patient and help them sort of navigate what changes they think would be best for them on their social situation, in their environment, and when they’re precontemplative. I usually just reinforce, you know, that I think this would be really great for you. Could you imagine what your life may be like if you weren’t smoking? Like, how do you think that would feel?
00:13:34 Stephen Carek
When they’re contemplative. Then we sort of really hop, hop on like, what is the plan look like to you, how do you think you’re going to get there when they’re in that preparation stage, get all the tools, get every everyone together and then think what the resource they need, where they need to get a partner, a family member or friend engaged. Now that action plan on the action side accountable following up repeatedly to make sure they’re sustainable and sustaining on that plan.
00:13:58 Stephen Carek
And then one that’s there, that maintenance stage really congratulated hiring them, highlighting the wins, highlighting the celebrating probably how they feel, presuming that in most cases they’re gonna feel better, there’s to be something about their life that has improved for the better.
00:14:10 Stephen Carek
And really, which wouldn’t show them, is that that better state for them in that moment is way better than the state that they felt when they were smoking and trying to continue to reinforce those changes as positive and beneficial for them. Ultimately in all of these, the goal is to have the patient change their mind. They’ve got to do it themselves and we’re the coach. We’re the help with the aid.
00:14:30 Stephen Carek
We’re the navigator we can give them the tools, but they’re the ones that are in the driver seat.
00:14:35 Sara Klockars
Excellent. So once we do have patients in that preparation stage, this is where we can talk about, you know the different smoking cessation drug therapy options. Steve, are there any audience questions we can answer for folks?
Pipeline Meds
00:14:51 Steve Small
Sure. Let’s see what we have here. One subscriber asked, do GLP 1 agonists have a role?
00:14:56 Steve Small
Robin, can you guide us with what’s kind of coming down the pipeline for us?
00:15:02 Robin Corelli
Well, I would say there is a drug that is coming down the pipeline and it’s a drug called cytosine, also known as tabex. This is actually the oldest smoking cessation medicine and herbal. It’s actually extracted from the golden rain tree.
00:15:18 Robin Corelli
What that is, it’s actually basically a veranda. Clean light. It binds to the same receptors that varenicline does, but it’s not as potent. And it doesn’t have the same binding affinity. So it’s a weaker form, essentially of Franklin.
00:15:35 Robin Corelli
Now sightseeing has been available, as I said for a long time. Problem was the way that drug was dosed. So there was a company, a tube, life sciences based in the United States that said, you know, let’s do some pharmacokinetics on this. This is a drug that has a 5 hour half-life. Why are we dosing this every two hours? Sure enough, similar to discussion we had about Wellbutrin.
00:15:57 Robin Corelli
And they found that you could actually dose this at 3 milligrams three times a day. They have a new drug application under review with the FDA.
00:16:06 Robin Corelli
Based on some very encouraging randomized controlled trial showing efficacy, there’s a whole host of efficacy with cytosine.
00:16:15 Robin Corelli
For smoking cessation as well as now, they aren’t actually have some encouraging results with vaping cessation and you may wonder why is it side of seeing what cynically well when a new drug company comes out with a new compound they don’t want to have the same name, so it’s going to be site to send a clean and the plan last I heard about this and I read their press releases all the time is mid-2026.
00:16:41 Steve Small
And how about GLP one agonists here, I feel like we’re hearing so much about semaglutide and other examples and headlines right now.
00:16:50 Craig Williams
I mean, it’s interesting early literature on its uh, we all know lots of pressures to get GLP, one for folks, for lots of different things. But yeah, going back to Robin’s nice discussion of the dopamine reward pathway and what’s involved with the pleasures of smoking. And then then the addiction there do appear certainly actually.
00:17:09 Craig Williams
To be some benefits from a GLP 1, so I’m not aware anyone here starting them for that purpose. But as we’re seeing with many of these medication for the therapies, maybe there’s some spillover effect. So Robin may know the literature a bit more on it.
00:17:25 Robin Corelli
No, I don’t. And I’m just, it’s mostly anecdotal and people caught and I thought, Stephen, you probably in your practice are seeing that with patients that have diabetes that are maybe saying that I don’t smoke as much, I don’t drink so much. That’s the anecdotes we’re hearing.
00:17:40 Stephen Carek
Again, that’s something on occasion. I would say there’s. I definitely don’t have hard data to support or refute those police, but at least anecdotally, I’m feeling, you know, people are maybe some of the devices of life are are less frequent when they’re on these medications.
00:17:54 Robin Corelli
So we’ll wait for future data on that.
00:17:58 Steve Small
Yes, excited to hear what happens next. Now over to you, Sara.
Non-Drug Advice – Resources
00:18:03 Sara Klockars
And now I want to spend a few minutes on some strategies you use to empower your patients.
00:18:09 Sara Klockars
So Stephen, what non drug advice or resources do you recommend to your patients?
00:18:15 Stephen Carek
Yeah. The great, great question and a lot of this individualizing to the patient, I think broadly speaking, I think resource that are available to people in the public, the 1800 quit now hotline may have pretty much get everyone in recommendation to call that and see they need to plugged in. Sometimes it may help with things like nicotine replacement therapy, connecting the counselor,
00:18:34 Stephen Carek
Trying to connect them with behavioral health therapies if they’re able to participate in sort of behavioral health strategies. Cognitive behavioral therapy.
00:18:39 Stephen Carek
Those are other ways to help manage, maybe comorbid behavioral health issues as well as maybe some of their the sort of addictive components of this condition, the base downs, a lot of patient based on just those overwhelming cravings that they have. And those are really, really hard to find strategies for patients to work through, yes.
00:18:59 Stephen Carek
He needs nicotine replacement therapy and that helps give us a good bit of the way there.
00:19:02 Stephen Carek
There I just ask patients like you are the things that you may consider doing what are things that be good for your health or things that you can do to help distract your mind when you may be having these cravings and refer them to places maybe like mindfulness based meditation apps.
00:19:17 Stephen Carek
Headspace probably being one example. Walk them through these strategies. Breathing exercises, reflection techniques that can help navigate some of these crazy.
00:19:24 Stephen Carek
Things sometimes you try to connect them with. If there’s sort of local organizations, maybe there’s like group opportunities for them to come and and collaborate with other people in their community. They also may be going through the same journey as them.
00:19:34 Stephen Carek
That we find trying to connect people together that are going through the same things like nicotine, trying to quit tobacco use, and that definitely goes the sense of community that can help them navigate that together. They can share best practices.
00:19:46 Stephen Carek
Collaborate. Maybe find healthy alternatives and activities they can do together to help with this journey together.
00:19:53 Sara Klockars
Excellent. Robin or Craig, do you have anything else to add that you found helpful?
00:20:00 Craig Williams
I mean one thing I’ll add is just the the context and environment in which patients are trying to quit.
00:20:05 Craig Williams
Think we’ve all learned is so important. So lesson they learned a long time ago. If someone’s trying to quit but their spouse or partners at home smoking, it’s going to be extremely difficult. So as Robin can probably speak to you know, couples or partners coming in to quit at the same time as wonderful and anecdotally it certainly increases the quit rate.
00:20:22 Craig Williams
But ask any bit more about the environment at home and and where they’re going to be trying to be successful can be very enlightening, and man, if you can get a 2 for one and two patients come in and or if they weren’t a patient, you know, bring them in and let’s talk to your partner as well about the options. As we said, there’s just quitting cold Turkey works for some people.
00:20:41 Craig Williams
And just using over the counter nicotine products works for some people but engaging with the partners and the home environment to try to help that patient be successful is extremely important.
00:20:53 Stephen Carek
Yeah, I agree with that, Craig. Try and get both people in to visit. If it’s a couple, husband, wife, spouse, sending another, whatever it may be, whatever their support system, their close support system is whether it’s smoking or not, smoking, they’re so impactful in this journey for patients as well.
00:21:08 Craig Williams
Adult child and the parents. Yeah, whatever combination kind of needs to come in, yeah.
00:21:15 Robin Corelli
Yeah, I think the other thing too is that, you know, with busy providers, anything that they can do to start the process, provide even the, you know, some brief counseling and referring the patients to other sources that are freely available to everyone in the United States, which is the 1800 quit. Now the quit lines, you know that they’re staffed.
00:21:35 Robin Corelli
By masters levels and above trained individuals, and that’s what they do. All evidence based and they have programs that only telephone. There’s a lot of a lot of the young adults and want to do telephones. They would rather tax their tax programs.
00:21:50 Robin Corelli
Well, so you can start that process, just initiate the process, ask your advise, provide some brief counseling and refer them to others for more in depth counseling, which again that’s of such an huge non drug component.
Incorporating into Practice
00:22:07 Sara Klockars
That’s great. And any other tips on how do you incorporate, you know, ongoing support into your busy days?
00:22:15 Stephen Carek
Yes, I literally this is probably the most important lifestyle change and the number one preventable cause of disease and death in this country.
00:22:22 Stephen Carek
So they definitely, making it a priority is is also really important. I know that we oftentimes will. Sometimes I think lose sight of that. I think we’ve had so many patients that have we failed to get to quit smoking.
00:22:35 Stephen Carek
Or have relapse and and that’s just that again this is the condition, it’s a disease, this is the nature of that. And I think we just have to be persistent and consistent with the language, especially within the culture of the clinic that we work in, making sure that hey, if persons are screening, offer education, whoever is interact with the patient and disc.
00:22:50 Stephen Carek
Listening tobacco use, if they’re in that pre contemplated stage, continue to provide education and and offer support and help if they need it. I mean that’s part of it. That’s the biggest thing. I think it just require multiple multiple touch points, persistence, frequent ongoing conversations trying to be patient with the patients, meet them where they’re at you know.
00:23:10 Stephen Carek
Even things like signage across the clinics in the exam rooms, on the TV screens and the the waiting room, like all of those are perfect touch points just to continue to just bring home the message that if you can quit, you can do so much to help with your overall health and well-being and and we have the tools and resources to do it.
00:23:29 Sara Klockars
And we have one last audience question from a pharmacist.
00:23:32 Sara Klockars
Robin, can you answer this one? What advice do you have for me if I want to start providing smoking cessation services at my pharmacy, where do I start?
00:23:44 Robin Corelli
OK. Yeah, that’s a great one. Well, First off, this is a national audience. So you really need to be aware of what you’re states scope of practice is.
00:23:52 Robin Corelli
We have a total of 19 states. Now we’re pharmacists are allowed to prescribe and furnish prescription forms of nicotine replacement therapy and a smaller number of those can actually prescribed varenicline or bupropion under statewide protocols. So I think that’s the first thing is to find out what is your scope of practice that will tell you what’s your formulary.
00:24:13 Robin Corelli
This in terms of your practice, that certainly all pharmacists can prescribe over the counter nicotine replacement therapy, which when used in combination is a first line treatment and you have ready access to that and knowledge about that.
00:24:25 Robin Corelli
But if you don’t, pharmacists need to get trained.
00:24:28 Robin Corelli
And you need to bone up on this and it’s about how to counsel, including not only the medications, but also some of these behavioral counseling. I’m a huge believer in that. Ask advise, refer community. Pharmacists are so busy that they can start the process. They can move somebody through that pre contemplation.
00:24:50 Robin Corelli
When somebody comes in with, you know, their third inhaler for their COPD, have the conversation that you’re the most effective thing to do to stop the progression of your COPD is to quit smoking. And I have resources we can help you through this.
00:25:05 Robin Corelli
Right. And having those conversations with getting.
00:25:09 Robin Corelli
I’ll give a a shameless plug for the RX for change curriculum which is posted. It’s hosted on the UCSF website, but that is a free resource that has a suite of resources for community pharmacist to implement, including protocols, procedures, how to dose the medicines.
00:25:27 Robin Corelli
And background. So that’s another one on the American Pharmacists Association has resources, certainly the pharmacist letter has amazing resources.
00:25:36 Robin Corelli
The CDC tips from former smokers campaign is another one that I like to recommend, but that’s, you know, getting the training which includes your staff.
00:25:44 Robin Corelli
The arcs for change actually has a training for technicians that has.
00:25:49 Robin Corelli
We have CE for pharmacists as well for this, so these are options to get your confidence up. But really getting your team and learning how do you build it, how you going to do this, who’s going to be asking for the technicians? Honestly, I say they are the secret sauce and this in community pharmacy because they’re in the front line. They need to be the ones that are asking. They’re interfacing.
00:26:11 Robin Corelli
So implementing the procedure how you’re going to document this, are you going to use paper forms? Do you use your EMR support that? Have the products in stock, have adequate NRT in your stock.
00:26:23 Robin Corelli
And then just this is something that you’re doing regularly. You’re updating the profile and asking people regularly and to the behavioral counseling, you can refer for. So I think that’s really key as far as building your infrastructure in a nutshell.
Conclusion
00:26:40 Narrator
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00:27:26 Narrator
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00:27:37 Narrator
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00:27:46 Narrator
Thanks for listening to Medication Talk!
Medication Talk
