We request support for a conference to train pediatric leaders in methods to reduce children's secondhand smoke exposure.
The aims of this conference are to 1) educate pediatric clinical leaders in the harms of secondhand smoke exposure to children, 2) translate and disseminate throughout the US evidence-based research in smoking cessation counseling and other methods of reducing secondhand smoke exposure into practical, clinical skills, and 3) begin development of research priorities that address gaps in knowledge of effective methods to reduce children's secondhand smoke exposure. Achievement of these goals will improve the quality of primary care provided to U.S. children, increase access to smoking cessation services for parents and other caregivers, and reach priority populations, including low-income, racial and ethnic minority groups, women, and children. The conference will focus on pediatric clinicians, for they can use their unique relationship with the parent and child to intervene in parental smoking behavior. To be most effective in this intervention, pediatric clinicians need information about adult smoking behaviors and successful quitting strategies and must implement clinical practice systems that support smoking cessation counseling of parents and other methods to reduce exposure of children to secondhand smoke. The conference will provide attendees with current information on the effects of secondhand smoke, skills training in smoking cessation counseling, and effective systems, community, and clinical practice changes that reduce secondhand smoke exposure. Participants will be asked to use the knowledge gained at the conference to conduct one or more related educational activities when they return to their home communities, through local chapters of the American Academy of Pediatrics and other professional organizations. Following the conference, a report of the proceedings, including research recommendations, will be submitted for publication in a major pediatric journal. This conference is one step towards the establishment of a permanent, ongoing network and infrastructure to support pediatric clinicians in efforts to reduce children's secondhand smoke exposure using office- and community-based programs. It is our hope to make the nation's pediatric clinicians the next soldiers in the war against tobacco use.
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