Prince Edward Island
Smoking cessation in cancer care
Access to smoking cessation supports in cancer care settings in 2022-23
- The two cancer centres on Prince Edward Island offer people with cancer support to quit smoking and are working towards including culturally appropriate supports for First Nations, Inuit and Métis with cancer.
- People newly diagnosed with cancer are are asked about their commercial tobacco use at intake. Using an opt-out approach, people who smoke receive smoking cessation consultations at or around the time of their appointments at the cancer centre. A multi-disciplinary team of on-site tobacco cessation educators provides people with behavioural counselling (in-person or by phone), recommendations for smoking cessation medications, follow-up support and a referral to community smoking cessation resources, including Smokers’ Helpline. Caregivers that smoke can also receive on-site counselling and a referral to the PEI Smoking Cessation Program.
- People are offered free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) at the point-of-care and can be enrolled directly in the PEI Smoking Cessation Program, which provides free NRT or prescription smoking cessation medications to all PEI residents.
Smoking cessation in cancer care implementation level in 2022-23: GOLD
| Quality dimension | Implementation criteria met | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioural counselling | Offers 3A (Ask, Advise, Act) or 5A (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) model with an opt-out approach and mechanisms for relapse prevention, follow-up and extension of support to family and friends | GOLD |
| Pharmacotherapy | Offers free varenicline, bupropion and/or NRT | GOLD |
| Person-centred | Engages people with cancer in program planning and gathers people’s feedback | SILVER |
| Culturally competent | Offers staff cultural competency training | BRONZE |
| Partnership | Works with multi-disciplinary team and community partners, with mechanisms for information sharing to track people’s progress | GOLD |
| Indicator measurement and reporting | Collects and reports on adoption, reach and uptake data | SILVER |
Impact of funded project (2019-22)
- Building on a previously funded implementation project, funding and support enabled the PEI Cancer Treatment Centre to enhance their existing smoking cessation in cancer care services by reducing barriers to quitting.
- The PEI Cancer Treatment Centre provided training for cancer centre staff to become tobacco cessation educators and educational materials for providers and people with cancer. They changed their approach from opt-in to opt-out and offered behavioural counselling on-site or by telephone at the time of people’s appointments and up to six months follow-up. They also offered free point-of-care NRT (at the Charlottetown cancer centre) or enrollment in the PEI Smoking Cessation Program, as well as referrals to the Smokers’ Helpline and support for their partners.
- Free point-of-care NRT was funded by the PEI Cancer Treatment Centre after the project funding was completed and has been extended to the cancer centre in Summerside.
