Abstract

Tobacco use is projected to kill 1 billion people in the 21st century. Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) is one of the most common substance use disorders in the world. Evidence-based treatment of TUD is effective, but treatment accessibility remains very low. A dearth of specially trained clinicians is a significant barrier to treatment accessibility, even within systems of care that implement brief intervention models. The treatment of TUD is becoming more complex and tailoring treatment to address new and traditional tobacco products is needed. The Council for Tobacco Treatment Training Programs (Council) is the accrediting body for Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) training programs. Between 2016 and 2019, n = 7761 trainees completed Council-accredited TTS training programs. Trainees were primarily from North America (92.6%) and the Eastern Mediterranean (6.1%) and were trained via in-person group workshops in medical and academic settings. From 2016 to 2019, the number of Council-accredited training programs increased from 14 to 22 and annual number of trainees increased by 28.5%. Trainees have diverse professional backgrounds and work in diverse settings but were primarily White (69.1%) and female (78.7%) located in North America. Nearly two-thirds intended to implement tobacco treatment services in their setting; two-thirds had been providing tobacco treatment for 1 year or less; and 20% were sent to training by their employers. These findings suggest that the training programs are contributing to the development of a new workforce of TTSs as well as the development of new programmatic tobacco treatment services in diverse settings. Developing strategies to support attendance from demographically and geographically diverse professionals might increase the proportion of trainees from marginalized groups and regions of the world with significant tobacco-related inequities.

Highlights

  • While tobacco control efforts have made progress in reducing the prevalence of cigarette smoking, Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) is one of the most common substance use disorders in the world [1,2] and tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable death and disease, responsible for more than 8 million deaths worldwide every year [3]

  • Nearly two-thirds of trainees intended to implement tobacco treatment services in their setting, and more than half were seeking Treatment Specialist (TTS) certification. This suggests that the Council-accredited training programs are developing an emerging workforce with professionally diverse backgrounds seeking to identify as TTSs as well as contributing to the development of programmatic tobacco treatment services

  • A highly skilled tobacco treatment workforce is a critical component in building the infrastructure and systems of care to increase the accessibility of treatment for TUD

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Summary

Introduction

While tobacco control efforts have made progress in reducing the prevalence of cigarette smoking, Tobacco Use Disorder (TUD) is one of the most common substance use disorders in the world [1,2] and tobacco use remains a leading cause of preventable death and disease, responsible for more than 8 million deaths worldwide every year [3]. Over 80% of the 1.3 billion tobacco users worldwide live in low or middle-income countries with some of the highest rates of tobacco-related death, disease, and health care costs [6]. Tobacco use imposes substantial global economic burdens. The average cost of smoking cigarettes globally is 1.8% of the gross domestic product (GDP) [9], but this burden is not shared. Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of health inequities in the world [12,13]

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