Texas

Texas leadership academy for wellness and smoking cessation

 Texas was the sixth state to hold a Leadership Academy on Wellness and Smoking Cession. On the evening of January 31 and all day February 1, 2012, thirty-nine leaders in public health, behavioral health, and tobacco control came together for a first-ever Texas initiative focused on reducing smoking prevalence among people with behavioral health disorders.

The summit began with dinner and a Gallery Walk on January 31, 2012.  David L. Lakey, MD, Commissioner, Texas Department of State Health Services, welcomed participants to the summit.  Dr. Lakey stated, “There are people here who have dedicated their lives to this cause. I thank you and appreciate you so much.” He added, “I look forward to working with each of you to address the burden of tobacco in our state, not only in this summit, but in the years to come.”

Michael D. Maples, MAHS, LPC, Assistant Commissioner for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Texas Department of State Health Services, provided a call to action to Summit attendees.  Mike said, “I am doubly impressed with the audience here and the work that you do. Developing an action plan for reducing the smoking prevalence in the behavioral health population is difficult.  However, I am confident that we can make an impact. Tobacco use is 100% preventable. We can change the culture of smoking in our state and this is the group that will solve the problem.”

 

Baseline
Partners adopted five baseline measures:

  • 33.7% smoking rate among the Texas population with five or more days of poor mental health
  • 39.7% smoking rate among the Texas population of heavy drinkers and 32% of binge drinkers
  • 11% smoking rate among the Texas youth population
  • 10% of  community  mental health centers and licensed substance abuse treatment facilities are estimated to be tobacco free
  • 30% smoking rate in the Texas Medicaid STAR+PLUS Program (Adult recipients)
    • 68% of patients, in this program, were advised to quit smoking by doctor
    • 41% of doctors, in this program, recommended or discussed medication to help smokers quit

Target
The partners adopted five targets, with corresponding strategies, to be achieved by 2017:

  • Reduce smoking prevalence among the Texas population with five or more days of poor mental health to 24%
  • Reduce smoking prevalence among the Texas population of heavy alcohol users to 30% and binge alcohol users to 24%
  • Reduce smoking prevalence among Texas youth to 5%
  • Increase Tobacco Free Health Facilities in Texas to 100%
  • Reduce the percentage of smokers in the STAR+PLUS program (Texas Medicaid adult recipients)  to 20%
    • Increase the percentage of adult smokers in this program, advised to quit smoking by doctors, to 100%
    • Increase the percentage of doctors who recommended or discussed medication to help adult smokers in this program quit to 100%

The Academies are made possible by SAMHSA and SCLC. The goals of the Academies are to reduce smoking and nicotine addiction among behavioral health consumers and staff, to stimulate cooperation and collaboration among the fields of public health, including tobacco control and prevention, mental health, addiction treatment and prevention.