Our goal is to work with policy makers to identify ways of modifying the environmental and social influences compromising our patients’ control over their compulsion to smoke. We try to help decision makers find the appropriate balance between restrictive policies, such as clean indoor air regulations, and expansive policies, such as improved access to evidence-based care. Advocacy work is a means of creating an environment that can help our patients find the mechanisms they need to control their drive to smoke for the long term.
A few examples of our activities:
The Pennsylvania Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation Advisory Committee. This committee meets regularly to provide advice and direction to the Secretary of Health regarding Pennsylvania’s investments in tobacco control. Learn more about the Pennsylvania’s Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation programs by visiting the Department of Health’s website.
Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, Public Policy Committee. The Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) is the leading association focused on this special area of research. SRNT was founded in 1994 to coordinate and advance research on a broad array of topics, ranging from the pharmacology of nicotine to the societal influences on use of tobacco. The Society has flourished in the years since its inception and now has over 1100 members in more than 40 countries around the world. The policy committee assists lawmakers by integrating current scientific information into meaningful position statements regarding regulation and access to care.
SmokeFree Philadelphia Tobacco Control Coalition. The coalition serves a networking and educational function for members of Philadelphia’s tobacco control community. SmokeFree Philly is spreading its message across the Philadelphia area through a variety of media. Raising awareness and connecting people to resources can help to make a big difference in the health of the city. Look for updates regarding SmokeFree Philly’s current campaigns on their homepage and like them on Facebook.
South East Pennsylvania Regional Tobacco Control Coalition. A group of concerned community members seeking to promote change through advocacy, the SEPA Regional Coalition derives its members from the seven county SE regional health district of Pennsylvania. With members that come from treatment, prevention, and enforcement backgrounds, the coalition is an important mechanism for integrating these varied perspectives into a unified approach to tobacco control.
NHLBI Working Group on Smoking Cessation in Hospitalized Patients. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health, has been concerned with our poor understanding of processes that help, or hurt, a hospitalized patient’s likelihood of remaining abstinent from tobacco use following their discharge home. A workgroup was convened to examine this issue more fully, and to provide advice to NHLBI administrators responsible for making future research funding decisions.
Tobacco Control Committee, Behavioral Science Assembly, American Thoracic Society. The ATS is a premier professional society of physicians interested in all aspects of thoracic medicine. Membership is organized into several Assemblies, each concerning itself with a particular aspect of the specialty. The Behavioral Science Assembly seeks to further the field by identifying behavioral science research and educational priorities, and by endorsing clinical goals through position papers and guideline generation. The Tobacco Control Committee focuses specifically on the issues related to tobacco use treatment.
National Quality Forum Steering Committee on Population Health. As data becomes available pointing to new opportunities for national quality improvement, organizations responsible for healthcare policy need to use standardized and validated measures that define our collective quality goals. The National Quality Forum has begun the process of defining measures of population health. Steering committee members, derived from a variety of health care perspectives, have been charged with evaluating existing measures, constructing a call for new measures, and building a framework for thinking about future population health priorities.