Since 2014, the Louisiana
Department of Health’s Well-Ahead Louisiana initiative and Office of Behavioral
Health (OBH) have partnered to address tobacco use in the behavioral health
population. The partnership has allowed for better data collection that shows a
large percentage of callers to the Quitline also have a mental illness.
In
turn, this information resulted in a proposal from Well-Ahead to OBH to use
that program’s tobacco tax funding to support and sustain the Quitline.
The
Supporting Data
In order to enhance data collection
of smokers with behavioral health conditions, the staff with the Louisiana
Quitline began asking callers if they suffered from any mental illnesses, such
as an anxiety disorder, depression disorder, bipolar disorder, alcohol/drug
abuse, or schizophrenia.
The idea for surveying callers was
to determine if there was a correlation between smoking and mental illness.
We collected this data over a
one-year period beginning July 1, 2015. The results showed that 42.7 percent of
callers (3,000 people) to the Louisiana Quitline have at least one behavioral
health condition. This is more than the nationwide rate of
33.3 percent of adults who use tobacco and also report a mental illness.
Statistics also show that people
living with mental illness or a substance use disorder account for 25 percent
of the adult population, but they consumed 40 percent of cigarettes sold in the
United States.
The Proposal
Sustaining the Louisiana state
Quitline has been a top priority of Well-Ahead. The Quitline ensures that a
basic level of cessation service is in place to support national and state
interventions likely to increase interest in quitting tobacco.
With partners from the Tobacco Coalition,
Well-Ahead began to strategize on opportunities to improve the funding
stability of the Quitline. Well-Ahead developed a partnership plan that focuses
on enhancing referrals to, funding for, and reimbursement of Louisiana Quitline
services.
A
funding proposal was submitted OBH that included the data of Quitline callers
who indicated
They
suffered from any mental illness, and requested funding for the Quitline via
the tobacco tax proceeds. The proposal was accepted and the state’s Quitline
services were sustained without
a
break in coverage. A memorandum of understanding between the two agencies has
been developed so that the Louisiana Quitline can be sustained through this
partnership in following years.
Other Tools to Combat Tobacco Use
The Quitline is just one tool used
by Well-Ahead over the past several years to help Louisiana achieve significant
advances in tobacco control. Other strategies have included:
· Local municipalities passing clean indoor
air ordinances.
· Media campaigns, including the Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “Tips from Former Smokers” (TIPS)
campaign.
· Community outreach through the
Well-Ahead Louisiana WellSpot Designation Program. This outreach encourages
hospitals, schools, worksites, and healthcare settings to implement healthy
environments and policies, such as comprehensive tobacco-free campuses and
promotion of cessation services.
The
result of these efforts have been a drastic increase in the number of callers
to the Quitline. Specifically, the Quitline call volume during the first four
months of fiscal year (FY) 2016 trended 21 percent higher in volume as compared
to the previous year. Furthermore, this trend increases substantially during
the TIPS campaign.
Our
state’s Quitline has seen an approximate increase of 300 percent in calls when
CDC launches this campaign. The increase in call volume has led to the full
expenditure of dedicated Quitline contract funds by the third quarter of the
contract term in both FY 2016 and FY 2017.
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