Health care providers are in a unique position to identify tobacco users and to provide effective intervention.

There is strong evidence from many clinical trials that brief smoking cessation counseling delivered by physicians, dentists and other clinicians increases smoking cessation rates among their adult patients.

We recommend health care providers routinely and consistently deliver a brief 3-step intervention consisting of “the 3 A’s:”

• Ask about tobacco use at every visit;
• Advise all tobacco users to stop; and
• Assist the patient by offering medications to aid in quitting and/or referrals to community programs such as the Nevada Tobacco Users Helpline at 1-800 QUIT NOW.

In an effort to increase the utilization of brief intervention strategies by clinicians, we have developed various education materials for professionals and their patients that are available to you free of charge. For more information about these materials and the Brief Intervention project visit www.gethealthyclarkcounty.org.