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.