A Five-Step Approach to Smoking Cessation Counseling

Tobacco cessation intervention does not need to be time-consuming. The "5 A’s," is a proven evidenced based method to effectively reduce tobacco use rates while only requiring 3-5 minutes of implementation time. Studies have shown that doctors who take a few minutes to talk with patients about their smoking or maybe passing along a leaflet or a sample of nicotine gum can help them quit successfully. Components of the intervention can be assigned to nurses, physician assistants clerical and support staff to further reduce strains on the physician’s time.

The 5 A’s include: