'Every Touch Point Is an Opportunity': Tobacco Control Experts' Views on How to Implement Smoking Cessation...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Oncology
• Implementation Science

Background:

• Targeted lung cancer screening (LCS) offers a key opportunity for smoking cessation in high-risk populations.
• Successful implementation hinges on understanding and addressing context-specific determinants.
• Expert perspectives are crucial for optimizing smoking cessation interventions within LCS programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore tobacco control and smoking cessation experts' views on implementing smoking cessation interventions within an Australian LCS program.
• To identify facilitators and barriers to integrating cessation support into routine LCS delivery.
• To inform the development of effective implementation strategies for LCS-based smoking cessation.

Main Methods:

• A qualitative study involving 30 tobacco control/smoking cessation experts recruited via maximum variation and snowball sampling in 2022.
• Individual and pair interviews explored acceptability, feasibility, delivery models, and implementation strategies.
• Thematic analysis of interview data was mapped against the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research.

Main Results:

• Experts emphasized integrating smoking cessation into routine LCS encounters.
• Key barriers included perceived reluctance, stigma, and rural access issues.
• Recommended strategies included flexible delivery models, addressing priority populations, and prioritizing implementation efforts, favoring a hybrid intervention pathway.

Conclusions:

• There is strong expert consensus in Australia for embedding smoking cessation within LCS.
• Capitalizing on LCS to overcome existing service delivery barriers is supported.
• Findings are vital for planning and implementing effective cessation interventions in LCS settings.