Increasing Capacity for Treating Tobacco Dependence

Advice and assistance from healthcare professionals remains a powerful tool for helping tobacco users quit.  Studies have found that patients advised to quit smoking by non-physician clinicians are 1.7 times more likely to quit and patients advised to quit smoking by physicians are 2.2 times more likely than patients who are receiving no assistance.  MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence (CTI), with funding from the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, offers a variety of trainings for healthcare professionals to increase knowledge and build capacity to provide evidence-based tobacco treatment to patients. 

As a nationally accredited tobacco treatment training program, CTI offers the required curriculum needed for health professionals to apply for the new National Certificate in Tobacco Treatment Practice.

The following are key components of the Training &Education Program with the number of participants for Fiscal Year 2018:

• Tobacco Intervention: Basic Skills Training - A one-day training on the fundamentals of tobacco addiction and how to integrate brief tobacco treatment interventions into current practice. Ten trainings were held around the state with 176 health professionals total in attendance.

• Tobacco Intervention: Intensive Skills Training - A two-day interactive training that builds on the Basic Skills Training and is focused on developing the skills and knowledge needed to deliver more intensive and individualized treatment. Two trainings were held, one in Bangor and one in South Portland, for 50 professionals. 

• Annual Tobacco Treatment and Prevention Conference: A two-day annual conference bringing nationally recognized speakers and local experts together to discuss a wide array of tobacco treatment and prevention topics. This conference was held in Portland with 161 participants.

The Training and Education program also develops and offers other learning opportunities such as:

• Webinars
• Ad hoc training
• Videos
• Outreach to practices and healthcare sites
• Presentations and training to a variety of health professionals

For more information about Tobacco Use Treatment Click here

IMAT Pilot Project

Tobacco use disorder is often overlooked by behavioral health clinicians.  A proposed solution is to integrate treatment for tobacco use disorder into the treatment for co-occurring addictions and/or mental health conditions for which people using tobacco are already enrolled. Over the course of a 7-month pilot program in 2018, completed through a collaboration by the MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence (CTI) and the Maine Behavioral Health (MBH) Biddeford Integrated Medication Assisted Treatment (IMAT) program for treating opioid use disorder, strategies to integrate tobacco treatment were implemented.  Pilot program components included comprehensive assessment, treatment planning, provision of individual and group treatment, referrals to the Maine Tobacco HelpLine, and establishing guidance for billing for services.  

For more information about Integrated Medication-Assisted Treatment Click here

Health professionals interested in upcoming training opportunities can visit ctimaine.org/events/ or contact (207) 662-7155.