Quit-smoking toolkit targets residents of public housing
May 10, 2018
Medically Reviewed | Last reviewed by an MD Anderson Cancer Center medical professional on May 10, 2018
By July 31, all U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) housing will be required to be smokefree, in accordance to rule put into effect in 2017. An estimated 420,000 Americans who smoke and live in HUD housing, many of whom receive healthcare coverage from Medicaid, will be affected
In response to the change, MD Anderson and the American Lung Association have released an online toolkit loaded with new series of materials to help state and local officials and public health advocates increase coverage and access to evidence-based tobacco cessation treatments for Medicaid enrollees who want to quit smoking.
“This online toolkit will make it easier for public housing administrators, as well as healthcare providers, get the information they need to assist residents in their quit attempt in an effort to eliminate tobacco use and tobacco-related cancers,” said Jennifer Cofer, director of MD Anderson’s EndTobacco® Program, an initiative of the Moon Shots Program™’s cancer prevention and control platform.
According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 10 states have Medicaid programs that cover all seven FDA-approved tobacco-cessation medications, as well as individual and group counseling. Forty-eight states have barriers to treatment options that make it more difficult for Medicaid-enrolled smokers to access treatment and potentially quit.
The toolkit materials include factsheets, template materials, webinar information, healthcare provider resources, quit-smoking resources and important links to external information. The materials are available at www.lung.org/cessation-toolkit.