Pharmacist breaking a cigarette in half
Tuesday, March 12, 2019

#RethinkPharmacists: Supporting people who want to quit smoking

Pharmacist breaking a cigarette in half
Are you trying to quit smoking? Your pharmacist could be a good place to start. Pharmacists are trained in supporting people to quit smoking and are familiar with the wide variety of products to help quit. In Ontario, there’s a standard program that pharmacists use with patients. It looks like this:

  • If you feel ready to quit, chat with your pharmacist about the Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Program. They will complete a Readiness Assessment Questionnaire with you (takes about 20 minutes).
  • Working with the pharmacist, you’ll develop a quit smoking plan and set a quit date. They can also help you decide if you’d like to use medications to support this process, and, if so, they can prescribe and dispense them for you.
  • You’ll have 5-10 follow-up sessions with your pharmacist to track your progress and adjust your quit strategy as necessary. These should take place within a 12-month period and can be in-person or over the phone.

This service is covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit plan and under many private insurance plans.

The #RethinkPharmacists series is presented by the Waterloo School of Pharmacy for Pharmacists Awareness Month in March. The series highlights services pharmacists provide in addition to standard prescription filling and counselling.

Check out other entries the series: