Meet Peter – multiple comorbidities
Meet Peter, a 63-year-old retired gardener. Peter has been a heavy smoker since he was a teenager and now suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Peter has an appointment to see his doctor to follow up about his recent COPD exacerbation. Find out how his doctor incorporates carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring and uses Very Brief Advice to offer additional support on smoking cessation to help improve his symptoms in this two-minute video.
Smoking is a leading cause of COPD and a trigger for exacerbations2. Peter has already discussed cutting his smoking down with his doctor previously and she uses his carbon monoxide (CO) results to maintain his motivation and show him how successful he has been. During this consultation she uses Very Brief Advice to see if Peter is ready to go further than cutting down. She informs him about treatments available on prescription that could support him and is keen to involve his wife who is helping to motivate Peter to quit. Leveraging the influence and support of family members can work well.
While COPD is obviously associated with smoking, tobacco smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, and so try and use Very Brief Advice in any situation when a patient presents with a condition that has been linked with smoking.
References
- Nargis N, Yong H-H, Driezen P, Mbulo L, Zhao L, Fong GT, et al. Socioeconomic patterns of smoking cessation behavior in low and middle-income countries: Emerging evidence from the Global Adult Tobacco Surveys and International Tobacco Control Surveys. PLoS One. 2019;14(9):e0220223.