Authors (including presenting author) :
Ng YY, Lo CY, Hui YS, Wong TK, Chan PF, Chao DVK
Affiliation :
Department of Family Medicine and Primary Health Care, Tseung Kwan O Hospital, KEC
Introduction :
During COVID-19 pandemic, many clients avoided to attend or stay in health care premises as they worried about increased risk of close contact patients infected with COVID-19 in health care settings. Usual smoking cessation voice–only type of telephone counselling may not be the most interactive way to provide ongoing support to smoker clients. On the other hand, smoking is regarded as a risk factor for progression of COVID-19, smoking cessation service should not be neglected during the COIVD-19 pandemic. To facilitate better communication, Smoking Cessation Counselling Telecare (SCCT) with video image was adopted as an adjunct to usual practice to reinforce the clients on the awareness of smoking cessation.
Objectives :
To enhance the quality care of distant counselling when delivering smoking cessation counselling to smoker clients through a pilot telecare model.
Methodology :
Smoking Cessation Counsellors recruited existing clients receiving smoking cessation counselling service. The inclusion criteria were subsequent cases with experience or smart enough to use video communications. The suitable clients were invited to join SCCT counselling sessions and were required to submit electronic consent. Each session lasted for 15-30 minutes and self-administered clients’ satisfaction surveys were collected after two telecare sessions.
Result & Outcome :
42 patients were recruited in KEC Smoking Cessation Centers from September to December 2020. The mean age was 51.7 and 69% were males. Totally 80 telecare sessions were conducted. The response rate for the satisfaction survey was 73.8%. The overall feedbacks were positive. 95.8% of the responders satisfied and very satisfied with SCCT service. Over 95% of responders agreed / strongly agreed i) felt comfortable for using SCCC service; ii) felt their privacy and confidentiality were respected; iii) would recommend this service to others. Over 90% of the responders agreed / strongly agreed i) SCCT was a more effective communication channel comparing with usual telephone counselling; ii) sound and picture quality were good during video counselling; iii) technical connection was user-friendly. To conclude, SCCT was demonstrated to be a feasible and better alternative to usual voice-only type of telephone counselling in the era of telecommunication boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Real time video counselling facilitated mutual interaction and better client engagement during the counseling process.
