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Those with mental illnesses often die 20 years sooner than the general population, and those lost years of life are often a result of tobacco use. That’s why it’s vitally important to get the new smoking cessation toolkit into the hands of mental health providers, says a clinical psychologist at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center (UCDHSC). “Approximately 7.7 percent of Colorado’s adult population has a major mental illness and 41 percent of these individuals use tobacco,” said Jeanette Waxmonsky, PhD, with UCDHSC’s School of Medicine. “The Mental Health Provider Toolkit for smoking cessation among people with mental illnesses was created through the support of the State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership (STEPP) in collaboration with UCDHSC as a guide for mental health providers — incorporating existing guidelines, expert consensus, an extensive literature review and considerable input gathered through statewide focus groups to help those with mental illnesses stop smoking.” The toolkit reviews the current literature regarding tobacco use and mental illnesses including biological predispositions and psychological considerations, as well as implications for specific mental disorders. It also provides a review of the stages of change, guidelines for assessing readiness to quit, because, unlike the myth the general public often believes, people with mental illnesses can stop smoking with proper help, and treatment recommendations including pharmacotherapy, nicotine replacement and counseling. Strategies for relapse prevention are also provided. Drs. Chad Morris, Jeanette Waxmonsky, Alexis Giese and Mandy Graves, MPH, at UCDHSC are working to reduce the tobacco-related health disparities among people with mental illnesses. The differences are due to complex factors including biological and psychological predispositions, social stigma, provider bias, lack of access to services and little availability of evidence-based interventions. “Providing the toolkit to mental health providers across Colorado is a way of reaching out to those in need and letting them know they are not alone in the fight against nicotine addiction,” said Waxmonsky. www.HealthNewsDigest.com Top of Page 
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