Students from different healthcare programmes taking part in the activity.
Doha: The QU Health Interprofessional Education Committee (IPEC) at Qatar University (QU) organised recently its third IPE activity, entitled Interprofessional Education Activity on Smoking Cessation.
Students from different healthcare programmes in QU, and University of Calgary-Qatar (UCQ) participated in this activity including 150 students and 30 facilitators.
Meanwhile, 123 students participated from QU Health colleges and 27 students from the University of Calgary- Qatar.
The activity aims to help students learn and respect the role and responsibility of each profession. An important factor was for students to comprehend different healthcare scopes and functions. Students also communicated in a collaborative and responsible manner and included all stakeholders in the decision-making process regarding smoking cessation, which is an essential topic for Qatar’s healthcare system.
This IPE event provided the opportunity for students from public health, biomedical science, medicine, and pharmacy to develop skills in working collaboratively. Students shared their knowledge about the prevalence of smoking worldwide, trends in smoking over time, its impact on health and well-being, and strategies to assist people to quit smoking.
Students had the opportunity to work inter-professionally to understand the smoking cessation process while reflecting on the role of their professions. They implemented the 5 A’s Model for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, which is an evidenced-based smoking cessation practice that can be used by any health professionals and implemented as part of a routine visit; to help in smoking withdrawal through a role-play with the facilitators.
The 5A model consists of: Asking about tobacco use; advise to quit; assess willingness to make a quit attempt; assist in quit attempt and arrange.
Dr. Lily O’Hara, the lead facilitator for the event and Associate Professor of Public Health at College of Health Sciences said: “The IPE event was highly successful in achieving the learning outcomes of students learning with, from, and about each other’s roles in reducing the harms from tobacco use. Students shared knowledge about the extent of tobacco use and tobacco-related deaths around the world, trends in use in different regions, and global and national strategies to reduce tobacco-related disease and death.”
“Students then worked together in a role-play to help their client (played by the group facilitator) stop smoking. In addition to developing skills in assisting the client, the students learned that all health professions have a role in providing smoking cessation support, which is one of the components of the International Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.”
