National Behavioral Health Network
The National Behavioral Health Network for Tobacco & Cancer Control is 1 of 8 CDC National Networks that seek to eliminate tobacco use and cancer disparities.
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Individuals with mental health and substance use challenges who smoke have less access to tobacco cessation treatment than the general population and experience delayed screening and treatment for tobacco use – both in mental health and substance use treatment settings and across the health care services spectrum.
The disparity in access to tobacco cessation treatment contributes to staggering health outcome statistics: Individuals with mental health and substance use (MH/SU) challenges die between five and 25 years earlier than those without, and many of these preventable deaths are caused by smoking.
Though only 25% of U.S. adults have some form of a MH/SU challenge, they account for 40% of all cigarettes smoked by adults. Less than half of all MH/SU treatment facilities offer tobacco cessation counseling (41%) and only 50% have smoke-free campus policies. The National Council is dedicated to addressing these gaps through national training and technical assistance offerings.
The National Council provides customized training and technical assistance for national partners, state partners, organizations and providers.
Group, individual, single- or multi-day trainings are custom-designed to respond to the unique needs of the client to increase knowledge and promote and integrate tobacco-free policies and practices, including creating tobacco-free facilities, implementing universal screening, and expanding treatment and use of evidence-based interventions.
CEU and CME accredited webinars and virtual education sessions are also offered to increase clinical knowledge, skills and performance of providers and clinicians offering tobacco cessation and treatment services.
Implementation Toolkit for State Public Health and Tobacco Control
This toolkit is both a guide and call to action to strengthen public health focus in identifying and addressing tobacco-related health disparities among individuals with mental health and substance use disorders.
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