Process Evaluation of a Pilot Project to Implement Brief Tobacco Interventions in a Homeless Services Setting: Public Health – Seattle & King County Tobacco Prevention Program

As the prevalence of tobacco use drops in King County, as in the rest of the country, the disparity between who smokes and who does not is becoming more pronounced. The most socially and economically disadvantaged subpopulations in King County are more likely to smoke and less likely to receive assistance in quitting. The Tobacco Prevention Program (TPP) of Public Health - Seattle & King County has strategically partnered with homeless service centers and transitional housing programs to create opportunities for homeless people to improve their overall health by reducing tobacco use. In order to asses the feasibility of integrating cessation treatment into systems already meeting high needs of homeless client populations, the TPP conducted a process evaluation of a pilot study of implementing brief tobacco interventions within services at a partnering homeless service agency. The pilot study focused on training staff members to operationalize BTIS with homeless clients, document NRT distribution of nicotine patches provided at no cost by the PH department, and providing ongoing support to impact the pervasive culture of smoking characteristic of the environment. Lessons learned from this partnership and ways to evaluate it will be the focus of this poster presentation.