FEB/MAR 2007
Volume 13 - No. 1

SRNT Newsletter

February/March 2007, Volume 13, Number 1

In the Spotlight

Nicotine & Tobacco News & Updates

• Quite a few SRNT members were guests at Dr. C.Everett Koop's 90th birthday celebration and Healthcare in the 21st Century event in Washington on September 13, 2006. As you might guess, tobacco control, including the US signing the WHO FCTC, was one of his highlighted issues. Senators Orrin Hatch and Hillary Rodham Clinton co-chaired the celebration of Dr. C. Everett Koop's 90th birthday and presentation of his vision for health and healthcare in the 21st century, held at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC. The planning committee for the event was co-chaired by SRNT members Michael Fiore and Jack Henningfield, and the event was co-sponsored by SRNT and attended by many SRNT members including President Ellen Gritz. Lessons from tobacco control and the importance of tobacco control (including the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) were included among Dr. Koop's priorities. More information including pictures and video tape are available on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Innovators Awards Program website (www.InnovatorsAwards.org). Jack Henningfield provided the two photos, below:


Dr. Michael Fiore, Dr. . Everett Koop, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Senator Orrin G Hatch (R-UT), & Dr. Jack Henningfield	Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Senator Orrin G hatch (R-UT), and Dr. C. Everett Koop

• Jonathan Winickoff, M.D., M.P.H., Chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Tobacco Consortium would like to announce that the AAP Tobacco Consortium has issued a statement on smokeless tobacco, which reads: There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco. Smokeless tobacco is not safe; it is unregulated both as to how it is constituted and how and to whom it is marketed. Recognizing that an increasing number of safe and effective tobacco-free pharmaceutical aids, regulated by the FDA, are available on the market, the AAP Tobacco Consortium urges that child healthcare clinicians actively promote to adult smokers the use of such aids as well as effective behavioral treatments for both adult and adolescent smokers.

• Thomas Payne would like to inform SRNT members about the opportunity to join the Association for the Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence (ATTUD). Many ATTUD members — including those in leadership roles — are also SRNT members. For example, in addition to Tom, Matt Bars, Mike Burke, John Hughes, Jonathan Foulds, Denise Joliceur, Ken Wassum, and Susan Swartz are actively involved. ATTUD members view their goals and those of SRNT as being complementary.

ATTUD is an organization of clinician-scientists and clinicians dedicated to the promotion of increased access to effective treatments for the tobacco user. Like SRNT, ATTUD promotes evidence-based treatment and respects and encourages participation by all disciplines. Unlike SRNT, the focus is not on research (although many members are scientists), but on the provision of scientifically-based treatment. ATTUD is, in part, a professional guild, an advocacy group for smokers, and a continuing education organization dedicated to improving the expertise of those who treat tobacco users. Thus, if you are interested in improving your clinical expertise or in advocating for better care for tobacco users, please consider joining ATTUD. Dues are only $75/year.

ATTUD is relatively young, growing society. Examples of recent work include:

• An active listserv that clinicians use to obtain second opinions about cessation practices, to find both evidence-based and clinical expertise-based information about the pros and cons of well-tested and innovative treatments, when and how to use them, etc.

• Initiation of a program to establish national standards for certification/credentialing of both treatment professionals and training programs.

• Petitions to the FDA to remove barriers to effective treatments, and to ban non-scientific treatments.

• Consultation to federal agencies on provision of treatment services.

• Co-hosts of the pre-conference session entitled Increasing Access to Effective Treatments at the 2007 SRNT conference.

More information is available at http://www.attud.org/.

• New Study Finds Tobacco Quitlines Inexpensive Treatment for Smokers: An article just published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds tobacco quitlines to be inexpensive. Quitlines provide "tobacco cessation treatment at a remarkably modest cost," according to the author, Paula Keller, MPH, of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.The article analyzes a survey, conducted by the North American Quitline Consortium, of the 38 quitlines in operation in 2004, to obtain baseline information about their organization, financing, promotion, and cost. The survey found that quitlines had a median per capita cost of 14 cents and a median cost per adult smoker of 85 cents. In comparison with other medical treatments, the cost is extremely modest. "When compared with the total economic cost of smoking of $3931 per year per smoker estimated by the CDC, quitlines are really a bargain," said Keller. Citation: Keller, P.A., Bailey, L.A., Koss, K.J., Baker, T.B., & Fiore, M.C. (2007). Organization, financing, promotion, and cost of U.S. Quitlines, 2004. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 32, 32-37.

• On February 12^th, the President's Cancer Panel Meeting was held in Jackson, Mississippi. Entitled Promoting Healthy Lifestyles to Reduce the Risk of Cancer, the meeting included presentations by a number of tobacco researchers, including SRNT Members Thomas Payne, Dorothy Hatsukami, Ellen Gritz, Alexandre Prokhorov, Douglas Ziedonis, Michael Cummings, Pebbles Fagan, Jack Henningfield, Stanton Glantz, and Cathy Melvin. The official meeting minutes and summary will available at http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcp.htm as downloadable PDFs.

Honors, Awards, & Achievements

• Belinda Borrelli's MedScape CME Course entitled Using Motivational Interviewing to Promote Patient Behavior Change and Enhance Health received the Editor's Top Pick Award and was 2006's "Most Read Article." Check out http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/5757 for more information on this influential program.

Conference Updates & Upcoming Training Opportunities

• Bob Vollinger of NCI's Tobacco Control Research Branch (Bob.Vollinger@NIH.gov) would like to remind SRNT members to consider submitting abstracts and attending the National Conference on Tobacco OR Health (NCTOH), to be held this year in Minneapolis, MN, October 24-26. The NCTOH audience includes tobacco control practitioners, program managers, researchers, and public health advocates. For more details, see the NCTOH web site at http://www.tobaccocontrolconference.org/2007/conference/splash.cfm . Also, SRNT members are encouraged to assist with reviewing abstracts or otherwise helping plan this conference, which will help ensure that the program content includes the latest scientific findings and features state or local programs that are based upon the best policies and practices developed with a strong evidence base. Bob reminds us that supporting and participating in this conference will help continue to build these bridges between research and practice that are so important for policy successes. On a related note, Bob is now the chair of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs (ATOD) Section of APHA and would like to take this opportunity to let us know that he welcomes all your suggestions regarding ways to collaborate more with SRNT and invites all of you to join the ATOD Section.

• Dale Lowell, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic would like to announce the following upcoming educational events sponsored by the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center, Rochester MN:

14^th Annual Nicotine Dependence Conference - May 21-22, 2007
Tobacco Treatment Specialist Certification Trainings:

April 16-20, 2007
July 16-20, 2007
November 12-16, 2007

Motivational Interviewing (Facilitating Behavior Change) Workshops

March 19, 2007
August 13, 2007

All courses are offered in Rochester, MN. Please call 507-266-1093 for more information, or see the Mayo Clinic's website for more information: http://ndc.mayo.edu.

• Call for Abstracts: 3^rd Symposium on Addictive & Health Behaviors Research, September 24-25, 2007, Amelia Island Plantation, Amelia Island, Florida. In partnership with the University of North Florida and the American Academy of Health Behavior, the University of Florida's Addictive & Health Behaviors Research Institute and Mayo Clinic will host the 3^rd Symposium on Addictive & Health Behaviors Research, entitled Health Behavior Intervention: Combining Research and Practice. This is the first year that the Symposium will be open to national participation and the first time it will be held at the beautiful Amelia Island Plantation Resort in northeast Florida. Submissions are due June 1, 2007 online at: http://www.doce-conferences.ufl.edu/addictive/. The 3^rd Symposium will provide a forum for the multidisciplinary exchange of both scientific and application knowledge of health behavior intervention. This year's Symposium is designed to provide health professionals and researchers with state-of-the-art research knowledge and practical solutions on developing, implementing, evaluating, and disseminating successful interventions for affecting addictive and health behaviors. Nationally recognized researchers will present leading scientific information on behavior specific interventions, as well as cross-cutting intervention topics. The 3^rd Symposium on Addictive & Health Behaviors Research is a two-day meeting involving in-depth presentations from invited researchers with allotted time for audience-researcher interaction, lunch roundtables permitting small group discussions with invited speakers, and an evening reception showcasing poster research and permitting researchers and practitioners to socialize and network. Previous symposia have been broadly attended by addictions specialists, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, health educators, public health specialists, nurses, physicians, researchers, and students.

• The University of Massachusetts Medical School's Center for Tobacco Prevention and Control is pleased to announce its Spring 2007 Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) trainings. Tobacco Treatment Specialist Core Certification Training, Worcester, Massachusetts, April 23 - 27, 2007: This internationally recognized professional training and certification program is designed to help tobacco treatment providers master the necessary core competencies for providing evidence-based treatment for nicotine dependence. The training is based on the Public Health Service Guideline for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence and addresses the Association for Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence (ATTUD) core competencies. Instructors have extensive research and clinical expertise thus providing a well rounded source of up-to-date tobacco treatment information. A combination of lecture and hands-on experience are included in the 4.5 days of classes. New this session: interested participants may sit for the TTS Exam on Friday 4/27. Registration deadline: April 2, 2007. Cost: $800 Massachusetts residents; $950 out-of-state residents.Basic Skills for Working with Smokers, UMassOnline, Pre-requisite for TTS Core Certification Training: Basic Skills for Working with Smokers is a self-paced online course which is designed as an introduction to the basic concepts needed by professionals who are working with tobacco users. CEU's are available for nurses, social workers, respiratory therapists, certified health education specialists, certified dental hygienists, and certified substance abuse counselors. Please note that completion of the Basic Skills online course is required PRIOR to attending Core Certification training. Registration: Ongoing. Cost: $125. After completing Basic Skills and TTS Core Certification Training, participants may pursue certification as a Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist (CTTS). Participants are required to be tobacco-free at least 6 months prior to the April training. To register or for more information, please go to http://www.umassmed.edu/behavmed/tobacco/index.aspx and click on TTS Training and Certification. You may also call Beth Ewy at 508-856-2935 for additional information.

• Tobacco Dependence Treatment Specialist Training, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (New Brunswick, NJ). The 2007 dates for this 5-Day Training program are April 16-20, June 11-15, and September 24-28. The Tobacco Dependence Program of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - School of Public Health, has been specializing in providing intensive training for Tobacco Dependence Treatment Specialists since 2000. Their 5-day curriculum prepares health care professionals to provide treatment for tobacco dependence. Participants gain an in-depth understanding of tobacco addiction as well as essential evidence-based treatment tools necessary to help their patients achieve freedom from tobacco. The nationally recognized faculty brings a wealth of clinical, training, and research expertise in tobacco addiction, health consequences of tobacco use, treatment of tobacco dependence, program development and evaluation, as well as treating special populations such as those with mental illness, other addictions, and young people. The training format allows for an interactive and comprehensive educational experience. This training is based on the US Public Health Service Guidelines for Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence, with additional components based on scientific and clinical advances since the publication of that document in 2000. Participants will learn how to assess nicotine dependence, conduct treatment-planning, and deliver face-to-face treatment, including individual and group counseling skills, motivational interviewing, and the use of medications. Participants can expect to leave the training with competencies and knowledge of the latest research-based medications and behavioral techniques to effectively treat patients' tobacco dependence. This nationwide training is offered four times per year and is designed to provide clinicians with the competencies described by ATTUD - (Association for Treatment of Tobacco Use and Dependence) to be an effective Tobacco Treatment Specialist. Satisfactory completion of this training is a requirement for certification as a Tobacco Treatment Specialist as provided through The Certification Board, Inc. To register, go to: www.tobaccoprogram.org, or contact Nancy.speelman@umdnj.edu or Joan.maurer@umdnj.edu, or call (732) 235-8220 for more information.