Q&A: Learn more about the Systematizing Tobacco Cessation in Primary Care Quick Start Guide
June 23, 2026
The UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research (CHPR) recently completed a five-year, statewide demonstration project, called the Healthy Living Clinic Initiative, to determine if tobacco cessation services could be improved at 27 different community clinic sites across California.
The results from the initiative showed that cessation services can be improved using a system-based, quality improvement approach. The project was led by researchers in CHPR’s Prevention Policy & Practice Group including Desiree Backman, project director and co-principal investigator, and Neal Kohatsu, co-principal investigator and tobacco cessation expert.
The team distilled the key elements of this successful approach into the Systematizing Tobacco Cessation in Primary Care: A Quick Start Guide. The Guide is designed to help anyone get started with enhancing tobacco cessation in a primary care setting. Funding for the initiative was provided by the California Department of Public Health’s California Tobacco Prevention Program.
To learn more about the Quick Start Guide, read the Q&A below with Backman and Kohatsu.
Quick Start Guide Q&A
Why address tobacco cessation in primary care?
Kohatsu: Tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the U.S. In addition, tobacco use rates are higher in community clinic populations compared to the general population. There is good evidence that a system-based approach to cessation in primary care can significantly increase quit rates among patients that use tobacco.
What is the Systematizing Tobacco Cessation in Primary Care: A Quick Start Guide?
Backman: The Quick Start Guide is an easy-to-use, practical tool to help primary care organizations effectively integrate tobacco cessation into their patient care workflow. It is based on learnings from the Healthy Living Clinic Initiative, a statewide, tobacco cessation demonstration project that showed large-scale advances in cessation services provided in 27 community clinic sites across California. These sites ranged from small to large, in both urban and rural settings, serving diverse patient populations.
Who could use the Quick Start Guide?
Backman: The Quick Start Guide is useful for any clinic interested in advancing tobacco cessation in their primary care setting. It provides seven evidence-based steps with 10 tools and resources that support tobacco cessation services using a straightforward quality improvement process. Please feel free to share the Quick Start Guide with others, within your organization or elsewhere, who are interested in advancing tobacco cessation.
Who developed the Quick Start Guide?
Kohatsu: The Quick Start Guide was developed by preventive medicine and population health researchers in the Prevention Policy & Practice Group at the UC Davis Center for Healthcare Policy and Research. Funding was provided by the California Department of Public Health, California Tobacco Prevention Program.
