Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong WMB(1), Kwan PS(2), Kam KWK(3), Lam MS(4), Wong CY(4)
Affiliation :
(1)Accident and Emergency Department, Pok Oi Hospital, (2)Pok Oi Hospital Board of Directors Smoking Cessation and Counselling Program, (3)Patient Resources Centre, Pok Oi Hospital,(4)Nursing Services Division, Pok Oi Hospital.
Keyword 1: :
Smoking Cessation
Keyword 2: :
Effectiveness
Keyword 4: :
Board of Directors
Keyword 5: :
Pok Oi Hospital
Introduction :
Smoking cessation is vital for improving public health and reducing healthcare burdens in Hong Kong. Challenges include nicotine addiction, habits, low motivation, and service access barriers. The AED's high daily traffic makes it ideal for promotion, as acute patients often recognize smoking's urgent risks, increasing quitting receptiveness and family concern.
Objectives :
Evaluate designated AED smoking cessation office effectiveness via enhancements in accessibility, privacy, convenience, outreach, and patient motivation to boost recruitment rates.
Methodology :
In 2024, a designated team from the Pok Oi Hospital Board of Directors Smoking Cessation and Counselling Program (SCP) provides smoking cessation regularly in the AED of Pok Oi Hospital. Five key strategies were implemented to optimize recruitment:
1.Enhancing accessibility — A fixed office with an eye-catching notice board featuring a QR code for information access, more credible and appealing across age groups than temporary booths.
2.Enhancing privacy — An enclosed space to encourage longer engagement and openness.
3.Enhancing convenience — Offering one-stop services, from initial inquiries to provision of cessation medications.
4.Enhancing enthusiasm — Proactive on-site approaches by the team, capitalizing on waiting times for lower-triage (categories 4 and 5) patients during non-scheduled consultations.
5.Enhancing self-initiative — Targeting AED patients' acute awareness of smoking-related health risks to boost motivation for quitting.
Recruitment data were compared across periods: pre-AED services in 2023, initial AED implementation from 2024, and full-year 2025 outcomes.
Result & Outcome :
In April 2023, SCP provided smoking cessation counselling at Specialist Out-Patient Department (SOPD) of Pok Oi Hospital with averaged 4.5 recruitments per month. The Accident and Emergency Department (AED) initiated to relocate the booth from SOPD to the AED in January 2024 in the waiting area of AED, this figure rose to 14.4 cases per month, marking a 2.2-fold increase. In 2025, an area in AED was cordoned off for the program and recruited a total of 211 cases, averaging 17.6 per month—a 22.9% growth from 2024, with a consistent upward trend. Compared to 2023, 2025 recruitment demonstrated a 2.9-fold overall rise, highlighting substantial improvements in enrollment efficiency.
The substantial rise in recruitment rates affirms the AED as an ideal, effective site for smoking cessation promotion. Hospital-NGO partnerships resourcefully extend AED roles beyond emergencies to advance primary health and tobacco control.
