207462 Implementing a regional shift to prolonged cessation treatment and standardized data collection

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Lean Camara, MSW , SEPA Tobacco Control Project, Health Promotion Council, Philadelphia, PA
Lauren Mahoney, MS , SEPA Tobacco Control Project, Health Promotion Council, Philadelphia, PA
Maya Gutierrez, BA , Research & Evaluation, Public Health Management Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
Kayshin Chan, MPH , Research & Evaluation, Public Health Management Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
Amanda Innes, MSS, MLSP , Research & Evaluation, Public Health Management Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
Rose Malinowski-Weingartner, BA , Research & Evaluation, Public Health Management Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
Kristin O. Minot, MS , Research & Evaluation, Public Health Management Corporation, Philadelphia, PA
In 2007, the Pennsylvania Tobacco Prevention and Control program moved from a county-based administrative system (48 primary contractors responsible for the 67 counties) to a regional-level system consisting of eight regions and eight primary contractors. Prior to centralization, cessation services throughout the Southeastern Pennsylvania region (SEPA) region ranged from brief interventions to prolonged treatment, each with its own data collection practices. Program centralization has presented opportunities to refocus and standardize tobacco cessation services within the region.

Cessation service providers, cessation experts, program administrators, and evaluators formed a cessation work group to develop and implement a standard set of treatment services and data collection plan. The group came to consensus regarding major shifts in the cessation treatment clinical model, including a focus on prolonged interventions instead of brief interventions and the incorporation of evidence-based follow-up procedures. To reinforce and support these changes, regional evaluators led the team in developing new data collection protocols.

Standardizing cessation treatment results in the delivery of evidence-based practices, more efficient data collection processes, and improved quality management among a diverse group of cessation providers. Collaboration among all levels of program administration reinforces and validates changes made to the cessation program, promoting a smooth transition to a standardized plan. Successes and challenges in implementing this plan for a group of providers with varied cessation backgrounds will be presented.

Learning Objectives:
1. Demonstrate how people from different areas of program administration can work together to standardize cessation programming. 2. Explore challenges to standardizing practice among a diverse group of cessation service providers. 3. Demonstrate the value of implementing a standardized cessation program.

Keywords: Tobacco Control, Data Collection

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Lean Camara, MSW, is the Regional Tobacco Director at Health Promotion Council. In this position, Lean manages a youth access compliance project in Philadelphia and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Project. She is responsible for coordinating, integrating, and centralizing tobacco control services in a seven-county region. Prior to joining Health Promotion Council, Lean worked at a Federally Qualified Health Center for homeless in Camden, New Jersey. Lean was the Assistant Director and oversaw the outreach, case management, mobile health van, and data collection departments. Her educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Ithaca College and a Masters of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Cessation interventions
See more of: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs