On October 12th, 2015, Minnesota launched its first ever statewide initiative addressing smoking prevalence among people with mental illnesses and substance use disorders.

Hosted by the American Lung Association with grant support from the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, the summit was an integral part of the state’s planning and implementation of existing and novel strategies to decrease the smoking rates among this population.  The goal of the meeting was to bring together a select group of MN partners to collaborate in developing strategies to reduce the prevalence of smoking and nicotine dependence among people living with mental illnesses.

Four baseline measures were selected (answering ‘Where are we now?‘), and ambitious targets were set for each baseline measure (deciding ‘Where do we want to be?‘). For example, the percentage of Minnesota adults who are current smokers and have ever been diagnosed with depression is 26.9% (Baseline #1). Through this strategy session, partners agreed on a Target of reducing that disparity by 50% within 5 years, and by 100% over 10 years. Meeting partners created a detailed action plan outlining strategies and activities to help achieve all targets.

Please read Minnesota’s Action Plan for a more detailed snapshot of the meeting, along with outcomes and next steps.

Resources to check out