Previous projects
Development of a smoking cessation training program for Latin America
Tobacco use is increasing in low-income countries such as some countries in the Latin American and Caribbean Region. Currently, 120 million smokers live in these countries. Half of them will suffer from tobacco-related diseases and consequently will require health care. The WHO estimates that mortality from tobacco-related diseases will increase in Latin America by 700% by 2030 if the necessary means are not put in place to curb tobacco consumption. Offering help to quit smoking is one of the effective policies recommended by the WHO and for this reason the active involvement of each and every health professional is essential. The Fruitful project aims to fill the lack of training programs to quit smoking in Spanish-speaking countries in Latin America.
The Fruitful Project aims to adapt a distance learning course developed at the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) to the reality of three Latin American countries (Bolivia, Guatemala and Paraguay) to disseminate evidence-based smoking cessation interventions among health professionals in these countries.
Three hospitals in Bolivia, Guatemala and Paraguay offer all their professionals an online training course to quit smoking through the e-oncology platform. The “Brief Intervention” training program will allow health professionals to identify, assess and treat smokers in their daily practice. The evaluation model uses the triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods. For the quantitative evaluation, a pre-post evaluation of the knowledge, attitudes and level of performance in the smoking cessation interventions of the participants will be carried out. The qualitative evaluation will assess the satisfaction of the project, the barriers and the opportunities that this course offers, through in-depth interviews and focus groups.
GB-13520139 ($99,360) Study funded by Global Bridges: Healthcare Alliance for Tobacco Dependence Treatment, hosted at Mayo Clinic, and Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning and Change (IGLC).
November 2014- November 2016.
Cristina Martínez (Principal Inv., ICO-IDIBELL)
Esteve Fernández (Principal Inv., ICO-IDIBELL)
Assumpta Company (ICO)
Olga Guillen (ICO)
Mercè Margalef (ICO)
Martha Alicia Arrien (Instituto Oncológico del Oriente Boliviano de Santa Cruz de la Sierra-Bolivia)
Claudia Sánchez C (Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare-Paraguay)
Paula Cáceres (Institute of Cancerology and Hospital Dr. Bernardo del Valle-Guatemala)