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February 2013
Time-Sensitive News
SAVE THE DATE: Webinar - Coalitions Kicking Butts: Tobacco Control Policy Approaches!
C-Change and Legacy will sponsor a webinar focused on state level tobacco policy best practices called Coalitions Kicking Butts: Tobacco Control Policy Approaches. The program will be held Wednesday, February 20, 2013 from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm ET. Topics covered include tobacco policy progress and challenges, FDA regulatory authority, emerging products and tobacco industry tactics, and state coalition initiatives.
» learn more
SAVE THE DATE: Webinar - Social Marketing and Tobacco Campaigns!
The Smoking Cessation Leadership Center invites you to a webinar called Social Marketing and Tobacco Campaigns on Thursday, February 21, 2013 from 1:00 to 2:30 pm ET. Participants will learn what role social marketing campaigns play in tobacco prevention/cessation efforts, how to target different audiences, why targeting behavioral health professionals with cessation messaging is important, and tips for cost-effective provider advertisement.
» learn more
SAVE THE DATE: Pfizer Webinar on Chantix!
On Friday, February 22 from 12:15 – 2:00 EST, Pfizer will present a webinar on Chantix for NAQC members. Come learn about this FDA-approved medication and have an opportunity to ask questions.
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SAVE THE DATE: Membership Conference Call on Cessation Related Issues!
NAQC is launching a new program for all organizational members this year. We plan to convene biannual webinars to discuss important cessation issues and gain your feedback on priority-setting. The first webinar has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 27, from 2-3:15 pm EST. Please contact membership@naquitline.org if you have not received an invitation to this important webinar.
DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 28, 2013! Call for Candidates for NAQC Board of Directors!
Thank you to those of you who already submitted candidate names for the upcoming Board election! Two more weeks remain to recommend your colleagues to be considered for the NAQC Board. Please send all recommendations for candidates to Penny Thomsen, Chair of the Nomination Committee, c/o Board@naquitline.org by February 28.
This year, we will be electing up to 3 new directors. It is our intention to put forward up to 5 names to the membership for election. The Board chose this approach to allow for a meaningful vote without invoking undue competition. During the next few years quitlines will experience many changes in the populations served, technology used, and approaches to sustainability. NAQC seeks candidates for the board who are innovative “difference makers” and who can help guide us through the changes ahead.
» learn more
SAVE THE DATE: Strategies for Building LBGT Faith and Confidence in Quitlines!
Webinar scheduled for March 13 from 12:30 - 2:00 EST
According to the American Lung Association’s review of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) data from five states, LGBT people smoke at rates approximately 35% to 200% higher than non-LGBT people.(1) Additionally, we know that LGBT’s experience institutional, financial and personal barriers that limit access to healthcare, including cessation interventions, and that only 27 states are able to report on straight, gay/lesbian, and bisexual callers. Join us for a discussion with the Network for LGBT Health Equity on identifying effective strategies for partnering with organizations that serve the LGBT community in order to build faith and confidence in quitline services.
1.ALA. Smoking out a deadly threat: tobacco use in the LGBT community. Washington, DC: American Lung Association;2010.
» register today!
DEADLINE: MARCH 22, 2013! FY2012 NAQC Annual Survey is Now Open and New Resources Are Available!
The NAQC FY2012 Annual Survey of Quitlines is now open, and will close on March 22, 2013. Several resources are available on the 2012 Survey page of the NAQC website:
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The FY2012 Survey instrument (both Word and PDF versions)
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The link to the Survey Monkey data collection tool
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Training webinar slides and audio recording
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Questions and Answers (last updated February 7)
For more information or for questions, please contact NAQC’s Director of Research, Jessie Saul, at jsaul@naquitline.org.
IMPORTANT! Second Annual Tips from Former Smokers Media Campaign!
We expect a second Tips Campaign to begin sometime in March 2013. Details about the campaign will be provided as they become available. NAQC is hosting regular campaign-related conference calls for service providers with CDC and NCI. Please make sure to participate! To get on the distribution list, please e-mail naqc@naquitline.org.
Find more Time-Sensitive News in our Newsroom or go back to top.
NAQC News
IMPORTANT! NAQC Membership Drive of FY2014!
NAQC’s membership drive for fiscal year 2014 will begin on February 18.We hope all of you will renew your membership for the coming year! To avoid a lapse in your membership benefits, please submit payment for your dues before July 1, 2013 (payments are accepted in a form of a check, credit card payment, and online renewal). Please refer to the membership page for more information.
For questions regarding membership, please contact Natalia Gromov at 800-398-5489 ext. 701 or membership@naquitline.org.
» learn more
NAQC Webinar Series Calendar - 2012/2013!
A couple of weeks ago, we have announced the new webinar series topics for 2012/2012 which will focus primarily on the impacts of healthcare reform, national promotion efforts (including graphic health warning labels and media campaigns), and emerging technologies on our work – as a quitline community and as members of the broader tobacco control community. Please make sure to participate in the upcoming NAQC webinars!
» learn more
The Impact on Quitlines When Graphic Warning Labels Include a Quitline Number: AU and NZ Case Studies!
As of August 2012, 56 countries in the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean, Europe, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions require pictures or images on cigarette packs (some of these are still being implemented).1 Graphic Warning Labels (GWLs) on tobacco packaging in countries like Canada, Australia and New Zealand include concrete information on ways to quit such as quitline numbers and website addresses and their experiences to-date indicate that including cessation resources on the label are an effective way to encourage tobacco users to quit.
Highlighting Australia and New Zealand, the purpose of the case studies is to describe implementation of warning labels that include a quitline number within a real-world quitline setting, noting the programmatic and operational issues that emerged and how they were addressed. GQN’s aim is to provide quitline service providers and quitline funders with valuable information to support successful preparation and implementation.
» learn more
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Tobacco Control
CDC Tobacco Control State Highlights 2012 Report!
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the Tobacco Control State Highlights 2012 report. The report provides state-specific data and guides states in developing and implementing high-impact strategies and assessing their performance.
» learn more
Important New Legislation!
A new legislation was introduced by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, outlining critical public health and prevention initiatives. Senator Harkin has reintroduced the Healthier Lifestyles and Prevention America (HeLP America) Act. The Act includes wellness provisions in a broad range of areas to include tobacco control. It addresses: tobacco marketing, access to tobacco cessation, increasing excise tax on tobacco products and other important measures.
» learn more
New ALA Fact Sheet on Tobacco Surcharges!
As you may know, starting January 1, 2014 increased tobacco surcharges permitted under the Affordable Care Act could make it too expensive for smokers to afford health insurance. This fact sheet outlines the ALA’s opposition to these surcharges and references the role state legislatures and insurance commissioners can play in limiting or eliminating them.
» learn more
Free Online Evidence-Based Tobacco Dependence Treatment CME-CE!
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health's free online CME/CE program on treating tobacco use and dependence has a new home. The free activity is now available at: http://www.ocpd.wisc.edu/tobaccocme.html. Participants will still learn evidence-based practices from the U.S. Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence.
» learn more
Find more Tobacco Control in our Newsroom or go back to top.
Research
Perceived Barriers to Adopting an Asian-language Quitline Service: A Survey of State Funding Agencies.
Zhuang YL, Cummins SE, Lee HR, Dearing J, Kirby C, Zhu SH. J Community Health. 2012 Oct;37(5):1058-65.
This study examined the perceived barriers to adopting an Asian-language quitline service among agencies that fund current state quitline services across the U.S. The most frequently cited reasons for not adopting an Asian quitline were: the Asian population in the state would be too small (71.4%), costs of service would be too high (57.1%), and the belief that using third-party translation for counseling is sufficient (39.3%). However, neither the actual proportion of Asians among the state population (range = 0.7% to 7.3%), nor the quitline funding level (range = $0.17 to $20.8 per capita) predicted the reported reasons. The authors conclude that quitline funding agencies need more education on the necessity and the feasibility of an Asian-language quitline. Three states are currently participating in a multi-state Asian-language quitline in which each state promotes the service to its residents and one state (CA) provides the services for all the states.
21st-Century Hazards of Smoking and Benefits of Cessation in the United States.
Jha P, Ramasundarahettige C, Landsman V, Rostron B, Thun M, Anderson RN, McAfee T, Peto R. N Engl J Med 2013; 368:341-350.
This study used U.S. National Health Interview Survey data from 1997-2004, and related smoking and smoking-cessation histories to the causes of death that occurred by Dec. 31, 2006. Results showed that the rate of death among current smokers was about three times that among those who had never smoked. The probability of surviving from age 25 to 79 was about twice as great for those who had never smoked as for current smokers. Current smoker life expectancy was shortened by more than 10 years compared to those who had never smoked. The authors concluded that quitting smoking before age 40 reduces the risk of death associated with continued smoking by about 90%.
50-Year Trends in Smoking-Related Mortality in the United States.
Thun MJ, Carter BD, Feskanich D, Freedman ND, Prentice R, Lopez AD, Hartge P, Gapstur SM. N Engl J Med 2013; 368:351-364.
This study examined temporal trends in mortality across three time periods (1959-1965, 1982-1988, 2000-2010), comparing relative risk according to sex and self-reported smoking status among participants who became 55 years old or older during follow-up. Results showed that among men 55 to 74 years of age and women 60 to 74 years of age, mortality from any cause was at least three times as high among current smokers as among those who had never smoked. In addition, smoking cessation at any age dramatically reduced death rates. The authors concluded that the risk of death from cigarette smoking is now nearly identical for men and women, as compared with persons who have never smoked.
Vital Signs: Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years with Mental Illness — United States, 2009–2011.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. MMWR. Early Release 62, Feb. 5, 2013.
This study examined data from SAMhsa’s 2009-2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to calculate national and state estimates of cigarette smoking among adults aged 18 years and older who reported having any mental illness. Results showed that adults with some form of mental illness have a smoking rate 70 percent higher than adults with no mental illness; 36 percent of adults with a mental illness are cigarette smokers, compared with only 21 percent of adults who do not have a mental illness. Mental illness was defined as having a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder, excluding developmental and substance use disorders, in the past 12 months. The study also showed that nearly 1 in 5 adults in the United States – about 45.7 million Americans—have some type of mental illness. Among adults with mental illness, smoking prevalence is especially high among younger adults, American Indians and Alaska Natives, those living below the poverty line, and those with lower levels of education. Differences also exist across states, with prevalence ranging from 18.2 percent in Utah to 48.7 percent in West Virginia. The authors conclude that increased awareness about the high prevalence of cigarette smoking among persons with mental illness is needed to enhance efforts to reduce smoking in this population. Proven population-based prevention strategies should be extended to persons with mental illness, including implementing tobacco-free campus policies in mental health facilities. Primary care and mental health-care providers should routinely screen patients for tobacco use and offer evidence-based cessation treatments.
Announcements
DEADLINE REMINDER: FEBRUARY 20, 2013! Early Bird Registration for SBM’s 34th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions!
Early bird registration for SBM’s 34th Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions in San Francisco, California, is officially open. The conference will be held at the centrally-located Hilton Union Square in beautiful downtown San Francisco from March 20-23, 2013. Pre-conference day activities for March 19 are being planned. Early bird registration, which offers discounted registration fees, closes February 20, 2013.
Embodying the meeting theme, "Technology: The Excitement and The Evidence,” the conference will explore the many ways that technological innovations are expanding the reach and impact of behavioral medicine. Abstracts addressing thematic areas of the conference will be presented as will submissions coinciding with other behavioral medicine topics.
» learn more
DEADLINE EXTENSION: MARCH 1, 2013! Call for Abstracts for the 7th National Smokeless and Spit Tobacco Summit!
Information on the Call for Abstracts for the 7th National Smokeless and Spit Tobacco Summit, which will be held August 6-8 at the University of Montana is at the link below. This is the only national conference of its kind which attempts to advance leadership, research, and programs aimed at reducing the threat posed by smokeless and spit tobacco products.
» learn more
DEADLINE: JANUARY 1 - APRIL 30, 2013! Dr. Alma Adams Scholarship Opportunity!
Scholarship applications for the Dr. Alma Adams Scholarship for Outreach and Health Communications to Reduce Tobacco Use among Priority Populations are accepted from high school, undergraduate, or graduate students from January 1st through April 30th, 2013. Scholarship funds may be used for tuition, books and related living expenses while attending any accredited college or university within the U.S.
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WORKSHOP ON MARCH 19-20, 2013! FDA Center for Tobacco Products!
The purpose of the public workshop that FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products will be hosting March 19-20, 2013 is to discuss the recommendation in the Institute of Medicine’s report, "Scientific Standards for Studies on Modified Risk Tobacco Products,” that sponsors of Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) applications use independent third parties to undertake one or more key functions in tobacco product research (third party governance). FDA is also considering third party governance as it relates more generally to tobacco research. Our goal is to receive input from interested stakeholders regarding features from existing third party governance models that may be applicable to tobacco product research.
» learn more
Calendar of Tobacco/Nicotine Scientific Meetings And Webcasts!
Please click on the link below to access the listing.
» learn more
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Funding for Connections is provided through a contract from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank them for their support of this publication. Information and links are provided solely as a service to NAQC members and partners and do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by NAQC, nor should any be inferred.
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