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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Sarah Ruiz, MSW, Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, MA Dept of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02108, 617-624-5136, Sarah.Ruiz@state.ma.us and Janet Smeltz, MEd, LADC-I, TAPE Project, Institute for Health and Recovery, 349 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139.

In Massachusetts over the past ten years, the Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS) has dedicated resources and implemented policies and guidelines to address nicotine addiction within the statewide substance abuse services system. As a result of this unique effort, Massachusetts has led the way nationally in the system-wide integration of nicotine addiction assessment, education, treatment and supportive policies.

In this presentation we will briefly review the body of research that demonstrates the importance and the positive impact of addressing tobacco dependence in recovery. We will also outline the broad range of strategies implemented statewide to facilitate systems change and the resulting outcomes.

BSAS has funded the Institute for Health and Recovery (IHR) to support integration of nicotine addiction assessment, education and treatment into the substance abuse services system. IHR has been providing training and technical assistance statewide to BSAS-funded providers related to BSAS tobacco policy and guideline implementation and integration into program services. In addition, IHR has provided staffing for a statewide advisory group made up of interested providers, convened regional program tobacco education coordinator meetings, and provided evaluation services such as statewide surveys and focus groups. BSAS has also purchased NRT patches and gum for distribution among selected treatment providers and surveys of participants are being collected.

Upcoming institutional and systems changes include integration of tobacco-related questions into substance abuse MIS admission and discharge data collection and integration of tobacco-specific language into the program licensing regulations for all licensed program modalities.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Describe a unique comprehensive public health approach to addressing nicotine addiction within a statewide substance abuse services system.
• Review the research and rationale that supports the importance of addressing tobacco in substance abuse treatment.
• List systemic, staff and client facilitators and barriers to integrating tobacco related policies into substance abuse treatment programs.
• Develop a plan to integrate smoking cessation programs into substance abuse treatment programs using evidence-based practices.

Keywords: Substance Abuse, Tobacco

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation