United States Department of Veterans Affairs Learning Collaborative on Integrated Smoking Cessation Care for Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

This extensive Learning Collaborative is a collaboration between the Veterans Health Administration Public Health Strategic Health Care Group; the VISN 6 Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Centers (MIRECCs); and the VA Sierra Pacific Network (VISN 21) National Center on PTSD.

VISN 21 is composed of seven VAMC/ health systems with a total of 36 care sites, serving 1.2 million veterans residing in northern and central California, northern Nevada, Hawaii, the Philippines, and several Pacific Islands including Guam and American Samoa.

The Integrated Smoking Cessation Care for Veterans with PTSD Learning Collaborative is designed to foster the successful implementation and sustained use of Integrated Smoking Cessation Care, an evidence-based intervention that incorporates smoking cessation treatment into mental health care for PTSD.1

The Collaborative seeks to support VAMCs to make improvements in three key areas: (1) Organizational support and capacity to implement Integrated Smoking Cessation Care; (2) Clinical competence in delivering Integrated Smoking Cessation Care; (3) Effective engagement of veterans with PTSD in smoking cessation treatment.

The Learning Collaborative held its first Learning Session October 19-20, 2010, in Chicago. Approximately 40 participants from six VAMCs PTSD clinics in six states participated in two days of training in Integrated Smoking Cessation Care. The Collaborative has completed two Learning Sessions and is beginning its second Action Period.

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References

  1. McFall, M., Saxon, A.J., Malte, C.A., Chow, B., Bailey, S. Baker, D.G., Beckham, J.C., Boardman, K.D., Carmody, T.P., Joseph, A.M., Smith, M.W., Shih, M.C., Lu, J.J., Holodniy, M., Lavori, P.W.; CSP 519 Study Team. (2010). I ntegrating tobacco cessation into mental health care for posttraumatic stress disorder: A randomized con trolled trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. 304(22): 2485-2493.