Smoking reduction for persons with mental illnesses: 6-month results from community-based interventions.

Persons with mental illnesses use tobacco at significantly higher and heavier rates than the general population, and suffer greater tobacco- related morbidity and mortality. However, there are few existing tobacco cessation interventions for these individuals. This study examined two tobacco cessation interventions, a telephonic quitline intervention (counseling and nicotine replacement therapy) and a community-based group counseling intervention with adults currently receiving community mental health services.

Colorado access' enhanced care management for high-cost, high-need Medicaid members: preliminary outcomes and lessons learned.

Colorado Access, a nonprofit health plan, collaborated with the Center for Health Care Strategies and the State of Colorado Department of Health Care Policy Financing, to develop, implement, and evaluate a care management services pilot program focused on improving the quality of care and decreasing the cost of care for the highest cost, highest need Medicaid recipients. Colorado Access' preliminary internal evaluation demonstrated decreases in hospitalizations and emergency department utilization and increases in primary care ambulatory visits and member satisfaction. Qualitative analyses informed program implementation.

What do persons with mental illnesses need to quit smoking? Mental health consumer and provider perspectives.

Objectives: Forty-one percent (41%) of persons in the U.S. who reported having recent mental illnesses also smoke cigarettes.

Tobacco quitlines and persons with mental illnesses: perspective, practice, and direction.

The prevalence of tobacco use among persons with mental illnesses is 2 to 3 times that of the general population, and these individuals suffer significant related health disparities. Many people with mental illnesses contact tobacco quitlines for cessation assistance. With free telephone counseling and in some cases nicotine replacement therapy, quitlines offer a potentially effective resource for this population.

Predictors of tobacco use among persons with mental illnesses in a statewide population.

Objective: This study used statewide administrative data sets to estimate the prevalence of tobacco use among persons with mental illnesses who were accessing public-sector mental health care in Colorado and to determine the relationships between tobacco use and primary diagnosis and alcohol and drug use.

Methods: This study utilized the Colorado Client Assessment Record to examine predictors of tobacco use among 111,984 persons with mental illnesses who were receiving services in the public mental health system.

Results: Thirty-nine percent of the sample (N=43,508) used tobacco.

Care satisfaction, hope, and life functioning among adults with bipolar disorder: data from the first 1000 participants in the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program.

Objective: The Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) is designed to evaluate the longitudinal outcome of patients with bipolar disorder. The STEP-BD disease-management model is built on evidence-based practices and a collaborative care approach designed to maximize specific and nonspecific treatment mechanisms. This prospective study examined the longitudinal relationships between patients' satisfaction with care, levels of hope, and life functioning in the first 1000 patients to enter STEP-BD.