Vivian Ly

Vivian Ly is a PGY1 community resident at 986 Pharmacy in Pomona, CA.

“According to the CDC, in 2022, only 8.8% of adults who smoked were able to successfully quit within the previous year, and only half of the total individuals who smoked reported receiving advice to quit from a healthcare professional. Low successful cessation rates indicate low utilization of smoking cessation programs, which suggests a need for further investigation in challenges providers face in providing effective tobacco cessation services. By identifying these challenges, we can identify ways to optimize service utilization to improve patient healthcare outcomes. The research objectives are to identify challenges around initiating and maintaining tobacco cessation services in a community pharmacy setting, and to identify potential solutions to address these challenges.

My motivation is to connect with our community pharmacies to understand how to better enhance our influence through expanded services such as tobacco cessation. The goal for optimizing this service is to improve greater accessibility and success in community pharmacies, particularly in rural regions where community pharmacists are the primary healthcare provider. Improving smoking cessation rates will in turn act as a surrogate outcome for improved impact on our patients’ health, reducing the burden on our national healthcare system.

I am incredibly honored to be an APhA Incentive Grant recipient to highlight the potential within pharmacy-provided tobacco cessation services. I look forward to inspiring and improving confidence in pharmacies beyond my own community to increase engagement in these tobacco cessation initiatives.”