UW-CTRI’s Dr. Brian Williams remembers caring for a patient who was preparing for a transplant and the patient was concerned vaping would affect his transplant candidacy.
Williams and colleague Dr. Jesse Kaye published a paper in Pediatric Transplantation on the importance of helping patients like him.
“Given the close relationship that many pediatric transplant providers have with their patients and families,” Williams said, “adolescent transplant teams are in an excellent position to help their patients by addressing substance use.”
Williams, a pediatric and adult hospitalist, conducts research at UW-CTRI on vaping and how to help youth avoid adverse effects from tobacco products.
“By providing effective screening, targeted behavioral interventions and referrals to treatment, transplant providers can play an integral role in helping their patients avoid the consequences of substance use,” he said.
“As teens naturally start to feel emotional independence from their parents they also identify more with their peers,” Kaye said. “During this stage, increased risk-taking is common. It’s a great time for transplant staff to invite them into a conversation about their vaping, cannabis, alcohol or other substance use.”
Williams and Kaye recommend universal screening of the youth patients beginning at age 12, and to do so without the parents or guardians present to promote full disclosure.
They said the intervention for lower-risk substances should be a simple and direct message. “This message should encourage the individual not to use again,” Williams said, “and be combined with a tailored message on the health consequences of use as this approach has been shown to reduce use in adolescents who use infrequently.”
For higher-risk substance use disorders, they recommend using motivational interviewing techniques, including providing empathy, developing discrepancy between an adolescent’s substance use and their current goals, rolling with resistance, and supporting the patient’s self-efficacy. This can be followed with a referral for more focused treatment when high-risk use is present.
Williams and Kaye said research shows even a brief intervention can go a long way in helping a patient to take their use seriously and believe they can quit and live healthier.
Williams BS, Kaye JT. Addressing Substance Use in the Adolescent Transplant Population. Pediatric Transplantation. Online June 24, 2024.