Trinidad and Tobago, March 21st-23rd, 2011. Smoking Cessation Training Workshop for PHC Service Managers on Strengthening PHC Systems for Treating Tobacco Dependence, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 21-23 March, 2011.

 

 

Smoking Cessation Training Workshop for PHC Service Managers on Strengthening PHC Systems for Treating Tobacco Dependence, in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

• Venue: Courtyard Marriot Hotel, Invaders Bay, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
• Number of Participants: 28 participants.

 

The workshop started with a brief opening ceremony chaired by Dr Yitades Gebre, Adviser, Family Health & Disease Management, PAHO/WHO Office, Trinidad and Tobago. At the opening ceremony, Ms. Yvonne Lewis, Deputy Director, Health Promotion & Public Health, Ministry of Health, Trinidad and Tobago delivered her welcome speech to all the participants. She reviewed what Trinidad and Tobago has been doing to strengthen capacity/system at PHC level for promoting treatment of tobacco dependence in the context of implementing the WHO FCTC since December 2009, especially the progress of training of PHC providers on tobacco dependence treatment. She pointed out that there was a need now to train PHC service managers on how to create a supportive system for PHC providers to deliver the service and the Ministry of Health, Trinidad and Tobago supported this training workshop as part of their efforts to meet the need. 

 

 Dr Bernadette Theodore-Gandi, PAHO/WHO Representative in Trinidad and Tobago gave a welcome remark. She extended a warm welcome to all the participants and expressed the deep appreciation to Ministry of Health, Trinidad and Tobago for their support for holding this workshop. She gave an overview of the current situation of the WHO FCTC implementation in Trinidad and Tobago and appraised what Trinidad and Tobago had achieved in tobacco control. Dr Gandi emphasized the central role of health system as stated in the guidelines for implementation of Article 14 of the WHO FCTC. She encouraged trainees to actively participate in the 3-day training and to develop a concrete action plan to move forward at the end of the training workshop.

 

The first part of the training in day one focused on:

-          Setting the scene, letting the participants introduce themselves and formulating the common base to work from through defining the objectives, outlining the workshop.

-          Pre-course assessment.

-          Presentations on the WHO FCTC and the situation in the Region and in Trinidad and Tobago as well as the role of PHC systems in treating tobacco dependence.

 

The second part of day one was dedicated to:

-          Introduce the WHO-developed conceptual framework for strengthening PHC systems for treating tobacco dependence (Seven Building Blocks).

-          Clarify PHC service managers' role in planning for system changes; building a roadmap to integrate tobacco dependence treatment into existing clinical infrastructure and getting support from stakeholders to plan and implement a system change for tobacco dependence treatment.

-          Provide the participants the chance to practice delivering the 5A's brief tobacco intervention model (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist and Arrange) as well as to use WHO seven building blocks as a tool to plan system changes.

The first part of the training in day two focused on:

-          Recap of day one activities and a preview of the second day.

-          Identify opportunities for system improvements, and to develop communication plan to win support from stakeholders.

-          Presentations, practices and discussions on community participation

 

The second part of day two was dedicated to:

-          Presentation and discussion on why incentives are important to motivate PHC providers to routinely identify and support tobacco users to quit.

-          Practice on how to design an effective incentive systems to sustain a system change for treating tobacco dependence by using the WHO conceptual framework (seven building blocks) as a tool.

The last day  was dedicated to:

-          Training participants to develop their action plans to implement one system change for tobacco dependence treatment in their PHC settings. Participants worked in four small groups to develop their action plans. This activity was designed to give participants an opportunity to apply the knowledge, skills and tools that had been taught to demonstrate how to effectively plan and implement system changes to improve the delivery of brief tobacco interventions in their PHC settings.

-          The small group action plans were presented and discussed in the whole group. Facilitators and every participant gave his/her feedback and suggestions on how it can be improved. It was agreed that the next step is to make every effort to actually implement their action plans.