Evaluating NSW SmokeCheck: A culturally specific smoking cessation training program for health professionals working in Aboriginal health

Issue addressed: This paper reports on the evaluation of a culturally specific smoking cessation training program (SmokeCheck) for health professionals working in Aboriginal health in NSW. Training aimed to increase professionals' knowledge, skills and confidence to offer an evidence-based quit smoking brief intervention to Aboriginal clients. Methods: Using a quasi-experimental pre-post with 165 matched intervention participants, surveys were completed immediately before (baseline) and 6-months post training. The control group were on a waiting list for 6 months before receiving the intervention, and completed surveys at baseline, immediately before training and 3-6 months following training. Surveys assessed knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver the intervention, availability of resources, and smoke-free status of homes. Results: Post training, a higher proportion of intervention group participants were more confident talking about health effects (22%, p=0.001), offering quit advice (27%, p=0.001), assessing readiness to quit (31%, p=0.001) and initiating a conversation about smoking (24%, p=0.001). After training, more participants reported providing advice about NRT (15%, p=0.001), ETS (12%, p=0.006), and reducing tobacco use (10%, p=0.034), but no changes were reported in smoking or intention to quit. Conversely, the control group showed no significant changes. Conclusions: SmokeCheck training strengthened participants' knowledge, skills and confidence to deliver a smoking cessation intervention to Aboriginal clients.