The Emerging Global Tobacco Treatment Workforce: Characteristics of Tobacco Treatment Specialists Tr
Thursday, April 15, 2021
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
Sheffer
CE, Al-Zalabani A, Aubrey A, Bader R, Beltrez C, Bennett S, Carl E, Cranos C,
Darville A, Greyber J, Karam-Hage M, Hawari F, Hutcheson T, Hynes V, Kotsen C,
Leone F, McConaha J, McCary H, Meade C, Messick C, Morgan SK, Morris CW, Payne
T, Retzlaff J, Santis W, Short E, Shumaker T, Steinberg M, Wendling A.
The Emerging Global
Tobacco Treatment Workforce: Characteristics of Tobacco Treatment Specialists
Trained in Council-accredited Training Programs from 2017 to 2019.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Mar 2;18(5):2416. doi:
10.3390/ijerph18052416. PMID: 33801227; PMCID: PMC7967787.
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.
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