The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To develop smoking cessation strategies for mental health inpatients, incorporating the NSW Health Smoke Free Workplace Policy and the Guide for the Management of Nicotine Dependent Inpatients. This will include the development of policy to address organisational and cultural issues relating to smoking cessation care in mental health facilities. Currently, mental health treatment settings offer little help to quit. Smoking rates among people with mental health problems (70-90%) is much higher than in the general community (20-23%).

Methods: The initial aims of this project are to investigate the level of assessment, documentation and provision of smoking cessation care and to identify what patient characteristics and organisational factors are associated with the provision of cessation care. An audit of all patient's files over a six month period at the James Fletcher Hospital in Newcastle (n=1000), will ascertain what level of smoking cessation care is presently recorded. Secondly, a survey of all mental health inpatient units within NSW Health (n=116) will provide a local management perspective of what smoking cessation care is currently being conducted.

Results: Preliminary results reveal very little is being done currently to address smoking cessation for clients of mental health inpatient services. Survey results (available March 2006) will identify opportunities for policy development to elicit organisational and cultural change which will lead to enhanced standards of care for smoking clients and effective smoking cessation strategies. This research will provide baseline data for future trials of interventions to improve the smoking cessation services presently provided.