The 5As can be used as a guide to address tobacco use with your patients.
Ask
Ask about their tobacco use at every visit.
Advise
Advise tobacco users to quit. Be firm, clear, and personal. Ambivalence is common.
Try to be non-judgmental when responding to your patient’s feelings about quitting and tobacco use.
Assess
Assess how ready your patient is to quit tobacco use.
Stages of change and numeric scales are useful to determine readiness to quit tobacco.
Assist
Assist in a quit attempt.
- Medications and Nicotine Replacement Therapy
- Counseling, in combination with cessation medications, will improve the chances of successful quitting
Arrange
Arrange follow-up support.
- Telephonic or in-person outreach within the patient’s quit-date week
- Refer follow-up support through the Quitline
- Refer to local programs
- For other tobacco users, address tobacco use at each visit
