Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Individuals living with severe and persistent mental illness are at a greater risk for morbidity and mortality related to tobacco consumption than the general population. Recent research reveals that half of mental health care consumers in Vancouver participate in regular smoking and the majority would like to stop, but lack the support to do so. Limited knowledge of health care providers has been cited as an impediment to smoking cessation efforts. Johnson and colleagues are currently conducting CIHR funded a project which aims to change institutional responses to tobacco use in Vancouver Community Mental Health Services by developing a plan for mental health teams to support integrated tobacco cessation interventions through resource development, training, educational seminars, support and consultation. I propose to examine the changes to practice that will result among health care providers as a result of the knowledge to action strategy. In order to effectively evaluate whether smoking cessation interventions are being implemented by mental health care providers, I will conduct a multi-site study that includes a clinical record review, a survey, and qualitative interviews with health care providers. A medical record review will be conducted in order to determine whether tobacco intervention practices are used by mental health care providers. I will conduct a survey of mental health care providers to determine changes in attitudes, skills, knowledge and practice. Questionnaires will be reviewed for completeness, entered into an electronic file and verified for accuracy. Finally, I will conduct key informant interviews individually in order to gain an in-depth understanding of the barriers and facilitators that affect practice change. These interviews will be tape recorded, transcribed, and content analysed. The findings of this research will contribute to our understanding of health promotion and knowledge translation.