The National Mental Health Partnership
for Wellness and Smoking Cessation

Mission Statement:

We the undersigned resolve to bring forth and lead a national partnership campaign to make health and wellness a priority for people with mental illnesses and for the providers who serve them. As a first and immediate focus, we commit ourselves to addressing the serious consequences of smoking and to emphasizing smoking cessation in all mental health service delivery settings. 

At Lansdowne – an historical event

On March 22-23, 2007, in Lansdowne, Virginia, the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center (SCLC) hosted a National Summit on Smoking Cessation and Wellness to focus attention on Mental Health Consumers and Staff.  The purpose of the summit was to convene leaders from national mental health advocacy, governmental, consumer and provider organizations, along with smoking cessation experts, to discuss key issues and opportunities for smoking cessation and wellness in the mental health community.  This event marked the first time that leaders from such a broad group of mental health stakeholder national organizations met to discuss smoking cessation and wellness for the mental health community as a way to improve quality of care for consumers and staff. The two-day session was facilitated by Jolie Bain Pillsbury, Ph.D . At the end of the session the group created an action plan and agreed to continue their efforts as a team. The Partnership had its first committee conference call in May and continues to work on the action plan.

The Partnership members include 26 leaders from American Legacy Foundation, Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Behavioral Health Policy Collaborative, Campaign for Mental Health Reform, California Smokers’ Helpline, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, Mental Health America, Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, National Alliance for Mental Illness, National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems, National Association of Social Workers, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD), NASMHPD National Research Institute, Inc., National Council of Community Behavioral Healthcare, National Empowerment Center, Ohio Department of Mental Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/Center for Mental Health Services, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center, Tobacco Cessation Leadership Network, and the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, which underwrote the event. 

Partnership Strategies 
The Partnership Newsletters

The SCLC is a committed member of the National Mental Health Partnership on Wellness and Smoking Cessation and looks forward to the work ahead. Please visit our mental health resource page for valuable tools. For more information on The Partnership or other SCLC projects please contact Catherine Saucedo at 415.502.8880 or e-mail csaucedo@medicine.ucsf.edu.