Smoking Cessation Clinics

1. Department of Health – Smoking Cessation Clinics

There are altogether five family clinics set up by the Professional Development & Quality Assurance (PDQA) of the Department of Health, providing smoking cessation services:

• Education & Training Centre in Family Medicine,
• Chai Wan Families Clinic,
• Hong Kong Families Clinic,
• Kowloon Families Clinic, and
• New Territories Families Clinic.

The clinics offer 8 week to 12 week treatment programme which includes counselling and pharmacotherapy. Apart from medical history, clients’ smoking habit, nicotine dependence, motivation of quitting smoking and the need of pharmacotherapy are assessed by doctors and registered nurses before the treatment.

Four counselling sessions in either individual or group basis are offered to clients. Sharing and guidance on physiological and psychological adaptation, behavioural and lifestyle modification and environmental adjustments will be taught. Regular post-treatment follow-up is provided to quitters up to 1 year, in order to prevent relapse and provide necessary support to them.

2. Hospital Authority – Smoking Counselling and Cessation Centres

HA provides smoking cessation and counselling services via its 35 SCCS centres.

It helps smokers, especially patients with chronic disease, to quit smoking. The services are provided in multi-disciplinary approach, by specially trained professional counsellors who are supported by doctors. Smokers would be counselled either individually or by group, during which their counsellors will help them by developing suitable treatment plans with regular follow up.

For more information, please visit website of Hospital Authority .

3. Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Integrated Centre on Smoking Cessation (TWGHs) – Counselling and pharmacotherapy

To further enhance the accessibility, availability and affordability of smoking cessation services in the community, DH started collaborating with TWGHs in January 2009 to provide counselling and drug therapy.

Their Integrated Centre on Smoking Cessation (ICSC) aims to provide community-based and one-stop quitting service to smokers for free. Their service is delivered by a multi-disciplinary team comprising doctors, registered nurses, clinical psychologists, social workers and counsellors. Quitters can access their services even after normal office hours including late evenings of weekdays and Saturday mornings.

An initial assessment is conducted to evaluate the severity of  smokers’ nicotine dependence. At the medical treatment phase, health care professionals will introduce pharmacotherapies to smokers if appropriate. In addition, cognitive behavioural therapy will be used to assist the quitters to modify their health behaviors. In order to prevent relapse, problem solving and relaxation skills are taught. Apart from individual counselling, the ICSC offers group therapy to reinforce smokers’ motivation to quit and organizes a series of mutual support groups to help smokers which includes smoking cessation group, relapse prevention group and smoke free club.

4. Pok Oi Hospital (POH) – Counselling and Acupuncture

DH collaborates with Pok Oi Hospital to provide a programme on smoking cessation service using acupuncture and counselling. The treatment protocol is developed under professional guidance of the State of Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People’s Republic of China and the Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

The treatment is composed of body and ear acupuncture as well as face-to-face counselling. Telephone follow-up service is provided up to 1 year during post-treatment period. The service is provided via mobile clinics reaching more than 90 different spots in Hong Kong.