OKLAHOMA CITY (June 22, 2020) — TSET-funded programs, Tobacco Stops With Me and Hospitals Helping Patients Quit, are featured in the recently published Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Best Practices User Guides for Cessation in Tobacco Prevention and Control.
The purpose of the user guides is to translate evidence-based best practices and research into practical guidance for tobacco control programs and partners across the country.
“Since its inception, TSET has always sought out the latest research and current thinking on health communications, cessation guidelines and program infrastructure,” said Julie Bisbee, TSET executive director. “For TSET to be featured as a model for the nation is a great honor and shows our commitment to excellence in creating evidence-based health solutions for Oklahomans.”
One of only two case studies featured by the CDC was Oklahoma’s Hospitals Helping Patients Quit, an initiative of the Oklahoma Hospital Association funded by TSET.
Oklahoma hospitals admit approximately 120,000 tobacco users each year, many for diseases directly related to tobacco use.
To reduce illness and tobacco-use related deaths, the program seeks to educate patients and refer them to the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline (1-800-QUIT-NOW or OKhelpline.com).
To date, HHPQ has assisted more than 50 hospitals across the state in helping hospitals be a partner in reducing tobacco use. By 2019, OHA had referred more than 40,000 patients to the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline for free coaching and nicotine gum, lozenges and patches.
In addition to Helpline referrals, the initiative has helped hospitals and clinics to:
• Screen every patient for tobacco use
• Integrate tobacco use treatment into clinical protocols
• Adopt and use electronic health records (EHRs) to treat tobacco use and refer patients to counseling
• Help health systems implement tobacco-free campuses policies “OHA’s program
“OHA’s program being highlighted in a CDC document is an honor,” said Patti Davis, OHA president. “I am extremely proud of the efforts of our team and partner hospitals and health systems to help patients quit smoking! This is an excellent example of the innovation and success of a public/ private partnership being accomplished by TSET and its partners.”
The CDC also recognized Tobacco Stops With Me as an example for Educating Employers and Insurers on Benefits of Cessation Coverage.
The CDC highlight includes a website banner from StopsWithMe.com that reads, “DID YOU KNOW: Employees who take four 10-minute smoke breaks a day actually work one month less per year than workers who do not take smoke breaks?”
Tobacco Stops With Me provides health communication interventions meant to educate the public and businesses about harms of tobacco use and secondhand smoke.
According to the CDC, people who smoke have higher health and life insurance costs, more missed days of work and lower productivity than people who do not smoke.
The guide was produced for the CDC by the Center for Public Health Systems Science at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
To view the Cessation in Tobacco Prevention and Control User Guide, visit cdc. gov/tobacco/stateandcommunity. Tobacco Stops With Me is featured on page 20, and the HHPQ case study is on pages 46-47.