TEACH prepares to train francophone service providers in smoking cessation strategies

Francophones across Ontario will soon have access to a wider range of smoking cessation programs and counselling thanks to a unique collaboration between the Nicotine Dependence Service, the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion, and Project TEACH pour les Francophones. This is in response to the overwhelming need expressed by all francophone groups, regardless of national or ethno-cultural origin, for health services in French to reach out to the relatively high percentage of smokers in their communities. The Francophone TEACH project is financed by a two-year, $300,000 grant from Health Canada Tobacco Control Programme-Promotion Healthy Environments and Consumers Safety branch.

“No matter what their mother tongue, whether Arabic, or Swahili, or Creole, French is the language of access for all the immigrant groups we need to serve.”
Antoine Derose, CAMH Program Consultant

CAMH has conducted a six-month needs assessment of smoking addiction trends within the ethnoracial and ethnocultural francophone communities in Ontario, including the Toronto area, Ottawa, Windsor and Hamilton, to guide training and service delivery. Modules addressing “Francophone Culture and Tobacco Cessation,” and “Cultural Appropriateness and Cultural Barriers to Tobacco Cessation” will be added to a French-language adaptation of the of the TEACH program.

“No matter what their mother tongue, whether Arabic, or Swahili, or Creole, French is the language of access for all the immigrant groups we need to serve,” says Antoine Derose, CAMH Program Consultant. “This program means that clients looking for help with smoking cessation will be able to communicate directly with the clinician without having to go through a translator. This not only saves time, but also makes sure that the client and clinician understand each other perfectly.”

Jean-François Crépault (centre), recently hired Coordonnateur of the Projet TEACH pour les Francophones, with Marilyn Herie, TEACH Project Director and Antoine Dérose, Program Consultant, celebrate the translation and adaptation of the program into French.

Under the leadership of Dr. Peter Selby and Dr. Bernard Le Foll, the TEACH Program is in the process of being translated and adapted to train francophone clinicians, health-care professionals and others who provide related services to smokers, to provide counseling services for tobacco cessation. Community leaders will also be enlisted to spread the message to their respective communities about the dangers of tobacco use. In addition, Dr. Le Foll is working toward the establishment of a training fellowship in tobacco cessation interventions for francophone primary care practitioners and a limited number of francophone physicians who can deliver more intensive behavioural and pharmacological interventions.

Adding a French-language capability to the already-successful TEACH program means that CAMH may soon be able to offer this one-of-its-kind smoking cessation program to interested francophone communities across Canada.