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National Campaign Shows Real Dangers of Tobacco Use

May 6th, 2013

Continuing with the success of last year’s landmark national tobacco education campaign- the CDC is launching “Tips from Former Smokers” which will run in Arizona through the end of June.  The media campaign showcases the real and devastating effects of smoking & secondhand smoke.  The ads feature people with smoking-related health conditions and candidly describe the impact of tobacco and the benefits of quitting. 

The national campaign from CDC is a great supplement to our statewide efforts to help people quit smoking and preventing young people from starting.  We operate the widely successful ASHLine, which offers free evidence-based cessation services and nicotine replacement therapies for all Arizonans. The ASHLine has a 32% quit rate, which means that we’re helping more people every day to kick the habit. 

The CDCs ad’s encourage folks to call 1-800-QUITNOW- which in AZ will roll up directly to our ASHLine (1.800.55.66.222) helping even more Arizonans find local resources to help Arizonans kick the habit.

 

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Prematurity Report Card

November 13th, 2012

The March of Dimes just released its annual report card marking how well states are doing in the battle to lower the percentage of babies born prematurely.  Being born too soon can cause long-term disabilities in children including cerebral palsy, developmental delay, respiratory problems and vision and hearing problems.  Sadly, prematurity is also the leading cause of infant death in Arizona.  In 2011, 199 Arizona infants died from being born too soon.

This year we launched a Healthy Babies initiative and pledged to reduce prematurity 8% by 2014.  We’ve been working hard with our partners, especially the March of Dimes Arizona Chapter and the Arizona Perinatal Trust to implement strategies, like reducing elective deliveries before 39 weeks.  We now know how important those last weeks of pregnancy are to a developing baby.  A baby’s brain at 35 weeks weighs only two thirds of what it will weigh at 39-40 weeks. 

The report card shows Arizona’s prematurity rate declined from 12.7% in 2009 to 12.1% in 2011.  This is a 4.7% reduction, meaning we are a little over half way there to meeting our goal of an 8% reduction.  The progress is good, but there’s more work to do.

One of our main leverage points in the battle to reduce prematurity is the multi-agency system of home visiting programs for pregnant women and families with young children.  The system – known as Strong Families Arizona – offers many home visiting programs that can help a pregnant woman learn about her pregnancy and her baby.  The home visitor can also teach a family about safe sleep for baby.  Click on this link to see if you are eligible for home visiting and if it is available in your neighborhood. 

Preterm birth can happen to anyone and most women who have a premature birth have no known risk factors.  We do know about half of premature births are as a result of preterm labor.  There are things that women can do to help their health and lower the risk of having a premature baby such as quit smoking and avoid alcohol or drugs; see your health care provider for a medical checkup before pregnancy; maintain a healthy weight; work with your health care provider to control diseases such as high blood pressure or diabetes; get prenatal care early, as soon as you think you may be pregnant, and discuss concerns during pregnancy with your health care provider.

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Worksite Wellness- a Critical Public Health Lever

September 21st, 2012

Chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes cause 70% of deaths in the US these days… absorbing 75% of the $2.5T spent on annual medical care costs.  When it comes to employee healthcare expenses- the indirect costs of poor health like absenteeism, disability, and reduced work output can be several times higher than direct medical costs.  In fact, productivity losses from health problems cost employers $1,685 per employee per year! 

One of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act includes incentives for employers to implement worksite wellness programs to help them keep their workforce healthier.  When done well (using evidence-based and best practices) worksite health programs have a 3:1 payoff.  Like the odds? 

The Affordable Care Act contains some elements that will make worksite wellness programs more common and robust over the next couple of years.  There are basically 2 kinds of worksite wellness programs.  I’ll call them Wellness and Wellness Lite.  A “Wellness Lite” program doesn’t require a participant to meet any standard related to health status to receive a reward.  For example…  a wellness program could include a gym membership or tobacco cessation program but doesn’t require participants to actually lose weight or quit smoking.  

A Wellness program requires people to meet a health status standard to get a reward.  For example- an employer could ask employees to certify that they haven’t smoked during the previous year.  Enrollees who don’t could be assessed an annual surcharge of  20% of cost of the employee’s health insurance coverage.  Rewards may be in the form of premium discounts or rebates, lower cost-sharing requirements, waiving a surcharge, etc. Under the Affordable Care Act, wellness program rewards can be as high as 30% of the cost of the employee health plan- potentially going to 50% in the future.  

Our AZ Healthy Worksites web page provides businesses with information and tools to help them develop and implement an effective worksite wellness program.  For example, the Program Design page lists the eight steps for developing, implementing, and evaluating a comprehensive worksite program.  We’ve also contracted with the Arizona Small Business Association &  Viridian Health Management to develop a new toolkit for AZ businesses.  Viridian and the Arizona Small Business Association will teach businesses how to do effective wellness programs, understand their own particular issues/data, and develop effective strategies.  In all, our contract tasks the team to train 500 AZ employers.   Finally- the CDC is jumping into the fray with a variety of resources, which you can see at their worksite wellness hub website.  

 

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CDC Kicks Off New Smoking Intervention Campaign Today

March 19th, 2012

The CDC is kicking off a new national smoking cessation campaign today called “Tips from Former Smokers”.  The new tobacco education campaign will begin airing today and will run nationally for 12 weeks.  Ads include television, radio, billboard, magazine, newspaper, theater, and online placements. In addition, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other channels will help spread the campaign’s message more broadly, particularly among younger audiences. 

The “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign features real people suffering as a result of smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.  Most of them were diagnosed with smoking-related illnesses when they were relatively young—many in their 30s and 40s, and one at only 18.  Their stories send a powerful message: Quit smoking now. Or better yet—don’t start.   To view the ads, please visit the campaign’s website and look under “Real Stories.” 

A couple of months ago we expanded our arsenal of resources to help smokers quit tobacco with the addition of the Call it Quits app which is also on our Facebook page.  The Call It Quits app on Facebook is another free tool brought to you by the ASHLine to help smokers win their battle against tobacco. The Arizona Smokers’ Helpline, has been helping Arizonans quit for more than 15 years-and has a 40% quit rate at six months.

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Kick the Habit

November 23rd, 2011

This month the Arizona Smokers’ Helpline expanded its arsenal of resources to help smokers quit tobacco with the addition of the Call it Quits app which debuted on ASHLine’s Facebook page this week and will soon be introduced as an iPhone app. The Call It Quits app on Facebook and iPhone are another free tool brought to you by the ASHLine to help smokers win their battle against tobacco. The Arizona Smokers’ Helpline, which has been helping Arizonans quit for more than 15 years- and has a 40% quit rate at six months.

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The President reportedly quit smoking, are you ready?

February 9th, 2011

Reports from Washington today say the President hasn’t smoked in almost a year.  He said last summer he’s spent his adult life trying to give up cigarettes.  Research shows that quitting is easier if you have help – Arizona Smokers’ Helpline can help you.  We have resources on the phone, online and even medication to help you achieve your goal.  If you are ready, call the ASHLine at 1-800-55-66-222 or visit the website .

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Tobacco Cessation Among Folks with a Mental Illness

February 3rd, 2011

For the past 18 months our tobacco cessation and behavioral health teams have been working together in a way that is positioning Arizona as a national leader in closing the gap in life expectancy for people with a mental illness!

Consider these startling facts which confront Arizonans with a mental illness:

  1. Life expectancy is 30 years less than the population as a whole;
  2. While draining their financial resources, tobacco is the leading cause of death;
  3. An estimated 75% of people with a mental illness use tobacco, which is nearly five times the statewide tobacco prevalence;
  4. Tobacco use among behavioral health providers is estimated at 33% and presents a systemic barrier in reducing chronic disease rates that are double the statewide average; and
  5. Nearly 50% of tobacco products are purchased by people with a mental illness.

When confronted with these facts our teams went to work immediately to:

  1. Examine the traditional barriers to integrating clinical treatment and tobacco cessation;
  2. Present their findings to key stakeholders in both the tobacco control and behavioral health arenas;
  3. Apply for and received cessation grants; and
  4. Execute an effective intervention program which is now showing significant gains in an area that many state and local health departments have avoided for years.

We’ve been cultivating participation and ownership among our behavioral health service providers and Consumer Service Agencies to implement on-site interventions aimed at reducing the unnecessary health and cost burdens placed upon people, their families, and surrounding communities who are affected by mental illness.  These are low tech but labor intensive interventions that emphasize judicious use of nicotine replacement therapies and medications and intake/treatment protocols with seamless links to a clinically trained, state-of-the-art quitline (ASHLine), resulting in an unprecedented volume both referrals and enrollment in tobacco cessation services.

To date, 45% of callers to the ASHLine are enrolling in personal coaching services.  This exceeds the statewide average of 35% and is light years ahead of the rest of the nation.  Last week, SAMHSA recognized Arizona as one of five “Behavioral Health Leadership States” who are paving the way to reduce tobacco use and its tragic effects on the quantity and quality of life for people with a mental illness.

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2011 Department Priorities Spotlight- Public Health Prevention

December 28th, 2010

The name of the game for Public Health Prevention in 2011 is integration and leverage.  Our Public Health Prevention Team will be focusing on the social determinants of health and working to implement policies, systems and environmental changes that make the healthy choices easy.  Here are some examples of our public health prevention priorities for the coming year:

Worksite Wellness

Perhaps one of the biggest leverage points for improving community health lies with Arizona employers.  Employers are increasingly recognizing that a healthier workforce is a more productive and efficient workforce and by applying simple public health prevention tools that can improve their productivity.  We’ll be using our Worksite Wellness Tool to help Arizona businesses to adopt wellness and health promotion activities for their employees.  The kinds of simple things we’ll be working with them on are smoking cessation, weight management, nutrition, heart disease prevention, diabetes prevention, etc.  Businesses that are self-insured (for health insurance) have double the potential gains because they’ll eventually benefit from worksite wellness with lowered premiums.

State Government Wellness

We’ll also build on our partnership with the ADOA to offer our services in augmenting the State wellness initiative and working with St. Luke’s Health Initiatives and others to make evidence based public health resources available to employers.  Included in this effort will be:

  1. Diabetes Self-Management Training -  Almost 10% of state employees have diabetes, and we’ll be partnering with ADOA to increase use of self-management (the cornerstone of treatment and care) to improve care;
  2. Launching a state-wide ”Hands Only” CPR initiative on three fronts:  Public (bystander) Awareness, Systems-Level Protocol Change (Dispatch – 911), and Worksite (employee) training;
  3. Design and launch a public awareness campaign focusing on early detection and effective disease management for Arizonans with colon, breast and cervical cancers;
  4. Expand our reach and utilization of tobacco cessation efforts via ASHline (phone and web-based services) among the behavioral health population, through partnering with some of our Regional Behavioral Health Authorities to create systems-based referrals in each behavioral health clinical site.

Nutrition & Food Stamps

We’ll also be working with other interested states and public health associations to change what foods qualify for purchase under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP (formerly called food stamps).   This is an idea that is getting national attention, including a recent article in the American Journal of Public Health that outlined a number of ways to improve diets of SNAP participants along with everyone else. This issue will be considered when Congress votes on the new Farm Bill in 2013. The Healthy Hunger Free Act of 2010 signed by the President this week will strengthen nutrition education provided to SNAP participants by focusing on obesity prevention and allowing public health approaches to be more fully incorporated into SNAP nutrition education activities. Visit www.eatwellbewell.org to see the nutrition education currently available to families receiving SNAP benefits in Arizona (don’t miss the videos and games).

Breastfeeding

We’ll be continuing to press our efforts to make institutional changes in maternity care practices and increase breastfeeding initiation and duration.  Arizona’s “5 Baby Steps to Breastfeeding Success” are the hospital practices that make the biggest difference. Our Breastfeeding Team is working with Arizona Perinatal Trust to train 5,100 nurses in 31 APT-certified hospitals statewide on Arizona’s 5 Baby Steps to Breastfeeding Success. All of these hospitals are committed to changing their policies to support breastfeeding. The technical assistance from ADHS is the key in mentoring the hospitals through model policy training and moving the policy from paper to action.

Health in Schools

We’ll also be using a more coordinated approach as we work with Arizona schools on various health initiatives.  Our new school coordinating committee will continue to share resources, streamline access and improve outreach for all of our programs.  The bottom line is that healthy children learn better and offering daily physical education or daily school breakfast can improve academic performance. We’ll be helping schools to complete the CDCs School Health Index assessment tool that they can use to develop a plan to improve their health-related policies and programs.  Strengthening school wellness policies, supporting farm-to-school programs, and increasing physical activity throughout the school day are all high priorities for the collaborative work.  Check out the Coordinated School Health website at http://www.healthologyaz.com/ to learn more about school health in action.

Of course there will be alot more than just these things going on in public health prevention in 2011, but this gives you a taste of what’s up.

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ADHS E-Communications Site

August 2nd, 2010

Just a reminder that you can sign up for electronic notifications in your in-box of our media releases, and lots of other cool communications like our weekly, in-season, healthy recipe at: http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1101362445484.  Tell your friends too.

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ASHLine Ringing off the Hook

June 21st, 2010

Our new advertising campaign that encourages people to call our Arizona Smokers’ Helpline is going great.  The ads  continue to bring in unprecedented call volumes to the ASHLine.  Since the commercials began airing less than a month ago, we’ve gotten more than 8,100 calls- which is more than the ASHLine receives typically in a five-month period.  Overall, calls are up more than 900% from the same time period last year.  Quit coaches report that callers are engaging in the quit process and most are saying it’s the bad economy/cost of the habit that is getting them to take action to call now. If you, or someone you know is ready to quit they should call the ASHLine at 1-800-55-66-222 or visit www.ASHLine.org.

Today is also the first anniversary of the Tobacco Control Act.  The Act gives the FDA stronger powers to keep tobacco out of the hands of children.  FDA is trying to prevent kids from being the next generation of Americans to die early from tobacco use.  It also is working to reduce death and disease associated with tobacco use for all ages.  Find out more at the FDA.

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