1. The Emerging Global Tobacco Treatment Workforce: Characteristics of Tobacco Treatment Specialists Trained in Council-Accredited Training Programs from 2017 to 2019
- Author
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Jamie L. McConaha, Claribel Beltrez, Ellen Carl, Chris Kotsen, Rasha K. Bader, Jennifer Greyber, Abdulmohsen H. Al-Zalabani, Tresza D. Hutcheson, Susan K. Morgan, Audrey Darville, Caroline Cranos, Jessica Retzlaff, Feras Hawari, Frank T. Leone, Andrée Aubrey, Cindy W. Morris, Susan Bennett, Ann Wendling, Wendy Santis, Maher Karam-Hage, Therese Shumaker, Michael B. Steinberg, Christine E. Sheffer, Victoria Hynes, Etta Short, Cara Messick, Heather McCary, Thomas J. Payne, and Crystal D Meade
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Evidence-based practice ,Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis ,medicine.medical_treatment ,education ,evidence-based practice ,lcsh:Medicine ,01 natural sciences ,Training (civil) ,Article ,health care professional training ,Tobacco Use ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Tobacco ,medicine ,Humans ,030212 general & internal medicine ,0101 mathematics ,health care economics and organizations ,Accreditation ,business.industry ,lcsh:R ,010102 general mathematics ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Attendance ,Tobacco Products ,smoking cessation ,Family medicine ,North America ,Workforce ,tobacco dependence treatment ,Smoking cessation ,Female ,Substance use ,Brief intervention ,business ,Specialization - Abstract
Tobacco use is projected to kill 1 billion people in the 21st century. Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) is one of the most common substance use disorders in the world. Evidence-based treatment of TUD is effective, but treatment accessibility remains very low. A dearth of specially trained clinicians is a significant barrier to treatment accessibility, even within systems of care that implement brief intervention models. The treatment of TUD is becoming more complex and tailoring treatment to address new and traditional tobacco products is needed. The Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs (Council) is the accrediting body for Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) training programs. Between 2016 and 2019, n = 7761 trainees completed Council-accredited TTS training programs. Trainees were primarily from North America (92.6%) and the Eastern Mediterranean (6.1%) and were trained via in-person group workshops in medical and academic settings. From 2016 to 2019, the number of Council-accredited training programs increased from 14 to 22 and annual number of trainees increased by 28.5%. Trainees have diverse professional backgrounds and work in diverse settings but were primarily White (69.1%) and female (78.7%) located in North America. Nearly two-thirds intended to implement tobacco treatment services in their setting, two-thirds had been providing tobacco treatment for 1 year or less, and 20% were sent to training by their employers. These findings suggest that the training programs are contributing to the development of a new workforce of TTSs as well as the development of new programmatic tobacco treatment services in diverse settings. Developing strategies to support attendance from demographically and geographically diverse professionals might increase the proportion of trainees from marginalized groups and regions of the world with significant tobacco-related inequities.
- Published
- 2021
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