Implementing Living Independent From Tobacco With Dyads of People With Disabilities and Their Caregivers: Successes and Lessons Learned.

People with disabilities have more health complications and higher healthcare utilization related to tobacco use than people without disabilities. Yet, they are less likely to use tobacco cessation resources. Important to meaningful and lasting health behavior change are relationships developed in the home, workplace, and community.

Living Independent From Tobacco reduces cigarette smoking and improves general health status among long-term tobacco users with disabilities.

Background: People with disabilities disproportionately use tobacco and suffer associated negative health consequences. Research is needed to explore tobacco cessation programming for people with disabilities to counter these health disparities.

Objective: We evaluated the impact of Living Independent From Tobacco on tobacco use, knowledge and attitudes about tobacco use, coping skills, and perceived health status among people with disabilities.

Evidence for the Fidelity and Effectiveness of for People with Disabilities and Their Caregivers.

People with disabilities (PWD) are more likely to use tobacco and less likely to access tobacco cessation programs compared with people without disabilities. (LIFT), an evidence-based intervention designed for PWD, was piloted with dyads of PWD (n = 5) and their caregivers (n = 7). As an important source of practical and social support for PWD, caregivers also impact health-related attitudes, knowledge, and behaviors of PWD.

The Associations of Chronic Condition Type and Individual Characteristics With Transition Readiness.

Objective: Identifying differences in transition readiness according to chronic condition is essential for understanding whether special emphasis within specific populations is warranted. Youth with chronic conditions (type 1 diabetes, Turner syndrome, spina bifida, autism spectrum disorder [ASD]) representing various types of impairments were compared with youth without chronic conditions. It was hypothesized that differences would be observed according to condition type, with youth with cognitive/behavioral conditions showing less readiness than youth with other conditions and youth without chronic conditions showing the highest levels of transition readiness.