PUBLIC HEALTH
BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – Marsha Vendetti has seen what a well-placed question can do.
Marsha Vendetti
“Some people just need to have a health professional ask them about their health habits and then say to them, ‘You know this really isn’t good for you’,” says Vendetti, clinical manager for the Brevard Health Alliance (BHA).
And sometimes, the right question can lead to a life-changing revelation, such as making the decision to quit smoking.
That’s what the Brevard Tobacco Initiative (BTI) would like to see occur every time a patient with a tobacco habit enters a doctor’s office or health clinic.
The initiative, administered by PREVENT! of Brevard, Inc., is composed of local residents, community and business leaders, and youth members of area Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) clubs.
Staff from the Central Florida Area Health Education Center (AHEC) is currently available to train area health professionals on how to administer the Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guidelines.
Simple Process
Known as the “5 A’s,” the guidelines promote tobacco cessation by helping healthcare practitioners such as doctors, nurses and medical staff screen patients for tobacco use during every visit.
The process is as simple as 1) ask; 2) advise; 3) assess; 4) assist; and 5) arrange.
Patient smokers initially receive brief interventions to help them quit. They are then offered more intensive counseling services, such as the Florida Quitline free telephone counseling service (available in English and Spanish), Quit Smoking Now classes, and the Not on Tobacco (N-O-T) teen smoking cessation program.
BTI would like to see the 5 A’s become standard policy in every medical facility in Brevard.
“You never know what you can do for a person until you ask,” said Reneé Ruffin-Price, BTI director.
“And they may not know that help is available until you address the issue,” she added.
BHA Serves More Than 22,000 Patients
The staff at BHA, a partner in the community initiative, has already been trained on the guidelines. The alliance has more than 22,000 registered patients and serves about 400 patients a month.
Vendetti said the screening is given to every patient served by the alliance, which provides primary health care services to residents throughout Brevard with locations in Palm Bay, Melbourne and Cocoa, and through a mobile medical unit.
“As a federally qualified community health center, we are all about preventive care and reducing the health risks in the community,” she said.
Vendetti said it is routine for the staff to ask patients if they use chewing tobacco and other tobacco-related products.
“We ask that question of every new patient that comes through our doors,” she said, adding that more than 6,000 new patients were seen last year.
“The screening is part of our intake with patients, which includes a whole social health history. Now, with the Brevard Tobacco Initiative resources, we have places to send patients if they choose to quit,” Vendetti added.
“If we can get them to be successful and kick the habit, they will notice tremendous benefits to their health and the health of their family members.”
For more information on the 5 A’s, or to arrange for your medical organization to receive training, contact Bethany Majka, Tobacco Program Director, Central Florida AHEC, at (407) 889-2292 ex. 103.
For additional information about BTI, contact Reneé Ruffin-Price, BTI director, at 321-255-0800.
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