People living with mental illness die 10-20 years earlier than the general population – smoking is a key contributor to this. QUIT Victoria has been working with three mental health services, including North Western Mental Health (NWMH), to find out what they can do to support people to stop smoking.

Shane Sweeney (NWMH) and Kevin Greg-Rowan (QUIT) presented Tackling Tobacco in Clinical Mental Health Services: What works? to the August 2018 TheMHS conference.

Presentation here

A component of the presentation was a video interview with Fiona Connolly – team leader at the Adult Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit, North Western Mental Health Breaking the link between mental illness and smoking – stories from the Tackling Tobacco in Mental Health Services project.

Video here

Hume-Border Dual Diagnosis Collaborative (HBDDC) is a rural Victorian, cross-sector (Alcohol & Other Drug, Clinical Mental Health and Mental Health Community Support) group of AOD-Mental Health workers interested in improved outcomes for people experiencing co-occurring mental health-substance use issues (dual diagnosis). HBDDC organises professional development events, both for the value of the learnings involved and also as a strategy to contribute to navigable treatment pathways, for people whose needs transcend traditional service system boundaries, through building formal and informal contacts between mental health and AOD workers.

 In February 2018 HBDDC organised a symposium around the theme of Tackling Tobacco in Mental Health & AOD Settings.

 The symposium was sponsored by Hume DHHS and was made possible by the partnership and support of Albury Wodonga Health-North East Border Mental Health, Gateway Health, MIND and MurrayPHN

Presentations included:

• Emma Dean                                   Smokefree Lead Pharmacist, Alfred Health                                    Practical aspects of Pharmacotherapy for smoking cessation 
• Anthony Lunney                           Tobacco Treatment Nurse, Psych Services, Bendigo Health          One Size Dies Not Fit all ....
  
• Jan Lang & Dr Christie Rodda     Murray PHN                                                                                    Murray PHN Mental Health & AOD HealthPathways
• Klara Glaw                                     Albury Wodonga Health                                                                  A breath of fresh air: switching cigarettes to sensory strategies
• Dr Cathy Segan & Filly Potter      Quit Victoria                                                                                    3-Step Brief Intervention Model 

Symposium report here  (contains links to key resources in addressing smoking in mental health and AOD settings )