Austin Travis County Integral Care Annual Report Fiscal Year 2015 | Page 11
Chronic Disease Management: Team Trains LMHAs to Go Tobacco-Free
Integral Care was awarded a grant by the Cancer
and manageable chronic diseases. Integral Care’s
Prevention & Research Institute of Texas to lead
Chronic Disease Management (CDM) team is
the effort to help Local Mental Health Authorities
working to raise awareness and presented at
(LMHAs) go tobacco-free in collaboration with MD
the Second World Congress for Integrated Care
Anderson Cancer Center. In response to the 25,000
in Sydney, Australia in November 2014. The
Texans who die from tobacco-related cancers each
presentation highlighted our
year, the Texas Department of State Health Services
program, which focuses on tobacco cessation,
mandated that all LMHA clinics within Texas
diabetes management, obesity reduction, fitness
become tobacco-free campuses by December
and nutrition. Participants have demonstrated
2015. The Taking Texas Tobacco Free program,
improvements in biometric screening results,
modeled after Integral Care’s successful tobacco-
reduced utilization of emergency services and
free workplace program, includes organizational
reported improvements in their mental health.
policies, education, screening, treatment and
outreach and was adapted and disseminated to
LMHAs across Texas. The long term goal of Taking
Texas Tobacco-Free is to prevent cancer by helping
tobacco-using Texans with mental illness and other
chronic diseases become tobacco-free.
Individuals with mental illness die, on average, 25
years earlier than the general population from
tobacco-related illnesses and other preventable
integrated CDM
44%
44% of all cigarettes
manufactured in the US are
smoked by consumers living
with Serious Mental Illness
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