Offering smoking cessation to parents during pediatrician visits can increase quit rates, according to a recent study in Pediatrics.
Mothers who reported smoking in routine pediatric screening questionnaires and were presented with automated support through their child’s electronic health record (EHR) were 11.6% more likely to quit smoking than those who did not receive the notifications.
“Many people who smoke are underserved medically or don’t have access to regular, ongoing services, but come and see us regularly in pediatric primary care — up to four to six times a year for routine care” for their children, said Brian Jenssen, MD, MSHP, primary care pediatrician and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, who led the study. “They want us to intervene to help them. And plenty of our research shows that framing this around helping their child is very motivational.”