Recently, the INSTrUCT program was presented in Brussels. INSTrUCT Program resource educational on Brief Smoking Cessation Intervention for health students was recently presented in Brussels. Idoia Pardavila, Navidad Canga, María Pueyo and Hildegart González, professors of the School of Nursing who participate in this project as representatives of the University of Navarra. "Through this project educational materials based on the best evidence have been developed to teach university students how to adequately treat tobacco dependence" points out Pardavila, who attended Brussels at the presentation. The materials include five theoretical modules, five educational videos and three virtual simulations. In addition, the program is available in four languages (English, French, Spanish and Portuguese) and is free of charge. Héctor García Diego and María Villanueva, professors at the University of Chile, have also participated in the design of these materials. School of Architecture.

"In Brussels we presented the results of the implementation of this course in the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022, and the experience of applying it in seven European universities. More than a thousand students have participated and about 86% of them acquired the skill on how to help quit smoking" explains Pardavila.

During the presentation, a panel of experts discussed the importance of smoking cessation in the curricula of health students. In Europe, still 23% of adults are smokers with the consequent risk of maintaining and increasing the burden of tobacco-related diseases across the continent. Health students are expected to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute to the treatment of tobacco dependence in order to reduce the burden of tobacco-related diseases.

In addition to the School de Enfermería, the Tobacco Control Unit of the Institut Català d'Oncologia (ICO), King's College London, the Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra, the Université Libre de Bruxelles, the Universitat de Barcelona, the Erasmushogeschool Brussel and the Universitat de Lleida are also participating in the project . In addition, it is led by the Unidad de Control del Tabaco del high school Catalán de Oncología.

Training health agents

The project INSTrUCT aims to become a solution to teach university students in the health field how to approach smoking cessation before graduation and, consequently, help them contribute to fighting the tobacco epidemic. INSTrUCT is aligned with the EU Tobacco Products Directive and the European Plan to Combat Cancer, pillar core topic to create a safer, better prepared and more resilient EU.

All materials are available on the website of the project.