North Carolina Holds Second Follow-up SAMHSA Leadership Academy Summit

 

photo: Breath Easy NC Partners

Jim Jarrard, the Deputy Director of the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, commented, "This meeting shows the continuing commitment of North Carolina to help behavioral health consumers and staff become tobacco-free."

The state liaison and Program Manager for the behavioral health department, Margaret Brake, added, "I wanted to say thanks from the state of North Carolina for your support. This is not an easy issue to address in a tobacco state, but we are making great strides. We appreciate being a part of the State Academies network."

The streamlined strategy groups in North Carolina-Facilities, Provider Education and Quitline, Consumers and Community, Policy and Performance Measures and Outcomes and Sustainability-all reported concrete progress on targets since the last Academy follow-up meeting a year ago.

Catherine Saucedo, SCLC's Deputy Director and Margaret Meriwether, SCLC's behavioral health consultant, also attended and gave an overview of the SAMHSA State Academies to date, including highlights from the results of the 2013 point-in-time online surveys. The group concluded the day's work by creating a new name, Breath Easy NC, for this statewide initiative to reduce tobacco use among behavioral health consumers and staff.

Congratulations to North Carolina for holding what is fast becoming an "annual" summit follow-up meeting. Maintaining momentum and encouraging communication among the strategy groups are two of the outcomes of September meeting that demonstrate North Carolina's leadership.

New Tobacco Cessation Guide for Community Health Centers from Legacy and Partnership for Prevention

 

Legacy and Partnership for Prevention have released a new tobacco cessation implementation  guide for U.S. community health centers.  The guide will help health centers integrate tobacco cessation services into their care delivery, as well aid in addressing day-to-day issues that come up in during these services.  In addition, a complementary educational webinar on providing tobacco cessation services in community health centers will be held next month.

Please click here to access the implementation guide, titled "Help Your Patients Quit Tobacco Use: An Implementation Guide for Community Health Centers."

AAFP's Office Champions FQHC Project Resources

   

The American Academy of Family Physicians' (AAFP) Office Champions Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) Project resources are now available to all providers. 

Click on these links for more information on the FQHC project www.aafp.org/askandact/officechampions, and to access the training program, http://www.aafp.org/patient-care/public-health/tobacco-cessation/office-champions/training-resources.html.   

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Call for Public Comment from the National Quality Forum (NQF)

 

The National Quality Forum (NQF) Steering Committee recently convened to review tobacco cessation (TOB) measures for endorsement consideration during the Behavioral Health Phase II project. The phrase "TOB measures" refers to The Joint Commission's tobacco screening and treatment measure set, which was initiated in January 2012.

NQF has posted the TOB measures for a 30 day public comment period running from September 30 to October 29, 2013.

The NQF public comment page can be accessed here.

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