With the help of our partners, we recruited and trained cohorts of 9 (pilot in 2016) and 16 (in 2017) integrated primary care clinics ready to add or augment tobacco cessation services and supports into existing clinical practice operating in rural or medically underserved areas. The Build-a-Clinic program participants in each cohort participated in six webinars, six collaborative learning activities, and received 3 hours of one-on-one tailored technical assistance over the course of six months. Collectively the six, themed webinars and collaborative learning activities comprise a comprehensive series on the skills and knowledge necessary to create, integrate, and operate an efficient tobacco cessation workflow within normal clinic operations.
This innovative proof of concept program suggests that learning communities can be used to successfully motivate organizational change and help practices to add or augment their tobacco cessation services and supports. Since this 2017 proof of concept, we have designed and run Communities of Practice in several states (Vermont, Florida, Oregon, Arizona, and Washington) with several different focus domains (e.g., behavioral health, criminal justice, opioid dual use).