Northern researcher promotes better ways to help people quit smoking
A habit that is the top cause of preventable premature death in Canada is more common in northern Ontario than in the rest of the province, says researcher Dr. Patricia Smith.
Yet Smith said most programs to help people quit smoking only offer basic counselling and nicotine therapies, which she said tend not to be effective.
"When we say 'stop smoking' ... all we're doing is giving people advice and not helping them set the stage," said Smith.
"You really need what we call intensive programs -- programs that have at least eight sessions with them."
Smith said the reason they are rare is because they are expensive to deliver.
That's why she's working with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine to figure out how to introduce it to communities across the country, with the help of just more than $300,000 from the federal Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund.
It's especially needed in northern and rural Ontario, she said, where twice the number of people under age 45 smoke, compared with the rest of Ontario.
Smith said up to 15 per cent of smokers will find brief counselling and nicotine gum sufficient help to quit.
However, her research piloting a smoking cessation intervention program in northwestern Ontario claims success in some areas:
• Up to 35 per cent success rate for the general population
• Around 50 per cent for Indigenous communities
• Around 70 per cent of patients with heart disease
Smith's research also poses that incorporating smoking cessation intervention into existing substance use disorder treatment programs would prove beneficial as well, since around 80 per cent people with substance use or mental health issues also smoke tobacco.
Centralizing smoking intervention programs at one local health agency or hospital in each community is one way Smith is proposing they could be rolled out in a sustainable way.
Smith is also working with First Response Mental Health to develop a customized version of its mobile mental health app, PeerConnect, as a possible avenue to deliver information and peer support for smokers, as well as connect people to services in their area.
While communities like Timmins do have access to some smoking cessation programs, one local woman said quitting has been a challenge and has been looking for an effective solution.
"Unfortunately, it isn't going so well, as I have started (smoking) again but would really like to quit for good," said Karen Bradbury in a Facebook message.
"I just find that there is no support for people quitting smoking in Timmins."
Smith's project is focusing primarily on helping younger people, Indigenous and rural populations and the 2SLGBTQ+ community, since smoking is most prevalent in those groups.
Smith also intends to consult with smokers who've tried to quit to learn about the challenges they've faced.
"What do they see as their concerns, their barriers? Why do they smoke? Why is it higher among certain groups? We're going to find all of that out," Smith said.
The federal government has a goal of reducing tobacco smoking to five per cent of Canadians by 2035.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Calgary police shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers dealt with a distraught individual. The incident lasted almost 20 hours.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.