 |
It's Quitting Time L.A.! Opens Doors
to Consumers and |
Building upon the success of It’s Quitting Time L.A.!, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Tobacco Control & Prevention Program has formed a unique partnership with the county's Department of Mental Health, the Alcohol and Drug Program Administration, Mental Health America and the California Smokers’ Helpline to address gaps in tobacco treatment services in L.A. County. The goal of the workgroup is to integrate tobacco cessation as a routine standard of care in the mental health and substance use disorder communities.
Recognizing the importance of peer involvement, the partnership sponsored an art contest to encourage persons with mental health or substance use disorders to share their interpretation of what it is like to be addicted to smoking. The winner of the art contest, Brenda Setters,was announced in April at a reception hosted by the Department of Mental Health. The art will be incorporated into the educational materials developed by the partnership.
 |
Brenda Setles (left), winner of It's Quitting time L.A.! art contest and Cathy Warner (right), Director of the Adult System of Care and Service Areas 7 and 8. |
A number of cessation trainings have begun for both providers and peer advocates. In May, peer specialists were trained to run onsite tobacco cessation support groups, conduct one-on-one motivational interviews with consumers, and provide cessation service referrals. The next set of trainings will teach mental health and substance use program providers how to incorporate smoking cessation into one-on-one counseling sessions with clients. The training uses the Public Health Clinical Practice Guidelines 5 A’s (Ask Advise Assess Assist Arrange) or, depending on time restrictions, the brief intervention, Ask Advise Refer. The California Smokers’ Helpline is the principal service referral and is offering customized treatment for individuals with mental illnesses or substance use disorders. The local Mental Health of America chapter is helping to provide supervision and advocacy support to the program and consumer tobacco specialists.
The University of Colorado, Denver, in partnership with Mental Health America, CHOICES and the Smoking Cessation Leadership Center, is piloting this initiative in California and Colorado. For information on the Los Angeles project contact Rachel A. Tyree, Project Director, Tobacco Cessation Initiatives County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health Tobacco Control & Prevention Program, at
(213) 427-4466 or rtyree@ph.lacounty.gov.
For information on the state pilot project contact Mandy Graves May, Research Coordinator, Behavioral Health and Wellness Program, UCD, Dept. of Psychiatry, at Mandy.May@UCDenver.edu or
(303) 724-3713.
 |
|
On April 3, 2009, Dreitzer Women and Children, a residential treatment program of Palladia, Inc., in New York City, made the first step toward enhancing its current smoking cessation program. All of the treatment program’s participants are mothers with young children, and DWC now offers secondhand smoke curricula as part of its overall cessation treatment program and has instituted a voluntary smoking cessation challenge that offers women incentives for lowering their carbon monoxide levels. Using a CO monitor, mothers can measure their carbon monoxide levels weekly to see how much progress they are making. The lower the CO levels the higher the motivation. DWC has already helped one mother drastically reduce her tobacco use to one cigarette a day, and another has stopped smoking completely.
In-house nurse and cessation group counselor Antoinette Butler has incorporated several wellness activities into the cessation program that are gaining wide support from the participants. Women have begun a walking program using pedometers to monitor their steps, and nearly half of all the residents have joined the local recreation center. Next up, smoothies!
Alicia Lyons, the program director and SAMHSA Pioneer grant recipient, attributes much of the success of the program to her unique partnership with the participants, who together with her, named the program "Tobacco Awareness" and who are working together to create a healthier lifestyle and environment for themselves and their children.
For information on Dreitzer Women Children treatment program and SAMHSA Pioneer e-mail info@palladiainc.org.