Quitting Tobacco Strategy and Capacity Building – ICanCaRe Protocol

Quitting Tobacco Strategy and Capacity Building – ICanCaRe Protocol

Quitting tobacco is frustrating. And for a healthcare professional it is a challenge! Every day whatever discipline one is practicing, tobacco users, do visit your clinic. Most of the symptoms the patient has are also related to tobacco use – smoking, chewing, or vaping. The outcome of treatment is compromised if the person continues to use tobacco, thus losing trust with the patient.

It is also seen that a doctor who addresses the issue of tobacco with the patient and goes the extra mile in guiding the person to quit tobacco gains instant recognition from the patient and family. By doing this the doctor does gain directly and indirectly better value in society and definitely more clientele.

268 million people in India use tobacco in some form. The numbers are increasing every day. WHO reports that 70% of educated people who have taken tobacco for a substantial time wish to quit tobacco. They try it unsuccessfully by themselves and frustrated look for support from medical professionals. Medical professionals need to be skilled in tobacco cessation.

I am an Oncosurgeon, practicing for 27 years now.  70 % of my patient are tobacco addicts, as is the case with all other medical professionals, except a few branches. My initial intervention was restricted to just asking the person to quit tobacco. Beyond that I did not know, referring to the psychiatry department was not agreeable, and more importantly, the low quit rate was not acceptable. So, my journey into tobacco cessation began with a deeper understanding of the psychosocial and physical patterns of tobacco addiction and coming up with a successful ICanCaRe intervention model. ICanCaRe launched a comprehensive tobacco control program as SAVE the Youth Campaign.

QUITTING TOBACCO – is now easy

Tobacco addiction is multifactorial. The skill lies in assessing each of the components and balancing the issue with the patient. The intervention is individualized and is not a copycat prescription for all. The most important roadblock for every patient is the “Fear of Failure”. ICanCaRe incorporated all the components into digital format http://app.icancare.in and made it simple, scalable, and saleable. The balance lies in managing withdrawals, cravings, suffering, societal pressure, and managing medical issues. This intervention process is simplified as “ABCD of Tobacco CESSATION” which is Active Motivation, Behavioural intervention, Co-morbidity management, and Drugs and medications like Nicotine-Acetylcholine receptor agonists and supplements.

ICanCaRe E-pharmacy for tobacco medications is available to ensure timely doorstep delivery of the medications to ensure compliance. And more recently multilingual virtual clinics have been introduced to help guide remote patients. Quit tobacco is now just a call away – 011-43077695.

The ICanCaRe standardized protocol for cessation has been designed, piloted, and implemented to help individuals quit any form of tobacco and smoking with ease. This protocol is tailored to suit the individuals’ needs and habits so that adapting to the tobacco-free routine is easy and simple. More details are available at www.icancare.in/quittobacco. 

Quitting tobacco is now available, feasible, and effective!

CAPACITY BUILDING – ICanCaRe Academy

Capacity building is the absolute need of the hour so that the HCPs are readily available across every corner of the country to offer help for a cessation to their patients. Every hospital needs to establish a dedicated cessation center with a dedicated team to offer assistance in quitting and oral examination.

ICanCaRe Academy – introduced the Certified Tobacco Cessation courses accredited with GUJARAT UNIVERSITY to train doctors and health care workers across India. Lots of trained skilled HCP and Tobacco cessation clinics are needed across India. Tobacco MARSHALs in society are trained influencers who motivate people to SAVE the youth. www.icancare.in/academy

The pillar of success for the program lies in visibly, available skilled and networked Health Care Professionals following a reproducible digitalized intervention for a successful outcome.

At ICanCaRe we are committed to SAVE the youth by sensitization, assisting them to quit, Volunteer Training, and Enforcing tobacco control.

ICanCaRe is here to stay with its innovative 360-degree intervention for tobacco cessation.

Collaboration and synergizing together are the way ahead to putting an end to this pandemic. ICanCaRe is open for collaborations with institutions, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and tech-based institutions to amplify cessation across the country.

Join the ICanCaRe community to #SAVEtheyouth www.facebook.com/groups/icancare.

(The Author – Dr. Pawan Gupta M.Ch. is Director of Surgical Oncology at Max Super Speciality Hospital, Vaishali. Patparganj and Noida. He authored the book – Win Over Tobacco Made Easy, Be Smart Do Not Start and is highly recognized for his work on Oral Cancer and Tobacco Cessation. He is the convenor for the Certified Course in Tobacco Cessation at Gujarat University. He launched the #SAVEtheyouth campaign and Tobacco MARSHALs in the community)

 

REACH OUT FOR TOBACCO CESSATION

Dr. Pawan Gupta at the Annual Conference of Foundation for Head and Neck Oncology 2022, Guwahati

Dr. Pawan Gupta, Director of Surgical Oncology HN, MAX Institute of Cancer Care – EZ and Founder of ICanCaRe was invited faulty at the annual conference of the Foundation for Head and Neck Oncology held at Guwahati from 4-6th November 2022.

It is an honor to be invited to deliver a talk at an august gathering of stalwarts who are at the helm of changing the scenario for head and neck cancer patients.

Gratitude to Dr. Prathamesh Pai, President, FHNO, and Dr. Ashok Das Organising secretary of the annual conference of FHNO 2022.

Dr. Pawan Gupta delivered a talk on “TOBACCO CESSATION STRATEGY AND CAPACITY BUILDING” Chair of the talk were Dr. Munin Baruah and Dr. Tasnin Rahman.

Dr. Pawan Gupta emphasized that Tobacco Cessation in India is different and the western methodology cannot be just copied for our Indian patients. The Indians have different sorts of problems and each problem needs to be addressed independently. Tobacco cessation is now available, feasible, and effective. ICanCaRe has evolved the methodology over a period of time and simplified it by laying down some simple protocols – put as ABCD of Tobacco Cessation. A standard intervention but customized for the individual as per digital protocol on the ICanCaRe app (http://app.icancare.in) has borne results.

The simplified protocol needs to be amplified with the involvement of everyone across society. People need specialists who can successfully treat this complex disease of Tobacco Addiction. ICanCaRe academy trains people at three different levels to get involved in tobacco control – TOBACCO MARSHAL, TOBACCO AMBASSADORS, and TOBACCO INTERVENTION SPECIALISTS (www.icancare.in/academy).  The course has been accredited by Gujarat University and is an intensive practical course to introduce standardized intervention for tobacco cessation across India. We need to have effective tobacco cessation clinics across India manned by a trained and skilled specialists, visibly present and networked with other specialists to benefit their patients.

The Talk was followed by a discussion on the use of Areccanut and controlling the same. Areccanut commonly called supari, Guha, etc is another big havoc causing a major public nuisance and promoting illness. The problem was highlighted by Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi who led the panel discussion with panelists representing the society – Dr. Ashok Das, Dr. Tashnin Rahman, Dr. Chanmiki Miki,  Dr. Gayatri Gogoi, Mrs. Zublee Baruah, Mr. Amit Yadav, Dr. Ravi Kannan, Dr. Pankaj Chaturvedi, Dr. Prathamesh Pai, Dr. Pawan Gupta, Dr. Munin Baruah. It was decided to frame a Guwahati declaration on the outcome of the panel discussion.

Tobacco is a public problem and it is important that everyone gets involved and stand strong to subdue the Tobacco Industry.

Why an HN oncologist address Tobacco use in all their patients
Just addressing Tobacco can cure many of the lesions in the oral cavity

A vigilant eye can save a life. A regular oral examination is a must

Chota Dana Campaign

CAPACITY BUILDING at Different levels to SAVE the Youth
Raising voice against Areca Nut – Guwahati Declaration

Tobacco Users Screening Camp at ONGC Corporate Office

SAVE THE YOUTH CAMP – CORPORATE

ONGC – Vasant Kunj Corporate Office

Topic: TOBACCO USERS SCREENING CAMP

Schedule: 21st October 2022 Time: 9:30 – 4:30 pm onwards

ICanCaRe Experts for the CAMP – 

Dr. Pawan Gupta M.Ch, Director – Cancer Surgeon – MAX – Patparganj, Vaishali

Dr Anshul Jain MDS(Oral Surgery), CTCS – Certified Tobacco Cessation Specialist, Visiting Surgeon, MAX Vaishali

Dr. Harshita Pandey BDS, CTCS – Certified Tobacco Cessation Specialist, ICanCaRe- MAX     Oral Care and Tobacco Cessation Centre

Mr. Rohit – Oral Care and Tobacco Cessation Assistant

 A “TOBACCO USERS SCREENING” Camp was organized in association with MAX INSTITUTE OF CANCER CARE during the ONGC- Cancer Awareness Health Mela organized at Oil and Natural Gas Corporation – Vasant Kunj Premises on 21st October 2022.

The Health Mela was an effort by the ONGC – Medical Corporate to create awareness of different types of cancer and healthy living to avoid cancer. The initiative was taken by Dr. Vimal Kumar and Dr. Pranita Das.

Many stalls were put up by various hospitals. The most sought-after was the TOBACCO USERS SCREENING STALL by the tobacco users, who were anxiously seeking advice and getting themselves screened for any health risk related to tobacco.

At the camp – screening for oral lesions and advice on what to do were given to the visitors. In addition, advice about the tobacco cessation program by ICanCaRe was provided. ICanCaRe is the only company in India working for providing services to Tobacco Users.

It is worth mentioning here that ICanCaRe as a part of the SAVE the Youth campaign runs a full assistance program. It has a successful track record for successful quitting. The digitalized medically validated tobacco cessation program by certified Tobacco Cessation Specialists promoting active motivation, behavioral intervention, co-morbidity management, and Drug medications is a systematic approach for easy quilting.

ICanCaRe APP is Worlds first APP for tobacco Users to note their intake, cravings, withdrawals, addiction level, and also the intervention journey during quitting. The active follow-up process adopted by ICanCaRe has seen more compliance and success for this hither to difficult disease.

TOBACCO IS A DISEASE-CAUSING MANY AILMENTS AND NEEDS TO BE TREATED WITH EMPATHY AND MEDICAL CARE. ICanCaRe understands the need of tobacco users and provides services accordingly. For Tobacco, User Services call 011-43077695.

113 visited the camp, 43 check-ups were done and of this 28 had signs related to tobacco use. This is the word of caution and it is important we be sensitized towards the need of this group. The book Be Smart Do Not Start, cartoon-based learning to #knowtobacco was given to all the visitors to the stall.

CMD with his team who visited the camp was all praise for the initiative.

#MAX#SaveTheYouth#tobaccomarshal#icancare#pawangupta

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