Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Housing Authority: Lancaster County Housing Authority
Health Center: Union Community Care, previously known as Lancaster Health Center
Union Community Care located in Lancaster, PA collaborated with Lancaster County Housing Authority to address the need for smoking cessation services and support for patients living in public housing development sites. Although rates of smoking among adults nationally have declined, they are still high among public housing residents. The goals of the collaboration, which is still and active collaboration, were to increase access to tobacco cessation services among residents of public housing to encourage quit attempts; strengthen collaborations among community health centers, quitlines, and public housing agencies. The purpose was also to promote smoking cessation in public housing communities; and improve systems and clinical workflows to effectively deliver high quality tobacco cessation services in the Lancaster, PA area.
Patients seen at the Union Community Care can schedule an appointment with resources or connect via a warm handoff during a medical or dental appointment.
Accomplishments: Union Community Care has held community education sessions, health fairs, and has been featured on podcasts about this collaboration and service. Other accomplishments include:
• Staff trainings on smoking cessation best practices
• Free NRT on site for distribution to patients experiencing barriers to accessing NRT
• Wallet cards with the Quitline phone number to teams
• Posters and smoking cessation handouts to teams • Free NRT in Sample Closets
Lancaster County had the following programs: PA Free Quitline; My Life, My Quit Program; and the Tobacco Dependence Treatment Program at Lancaster General Hospital.
The PA Free Quitline provided telephone coaching services and Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). They had specialized materials for patients that spoke a language other than English (over 170 languages), deaf/hard of hearing services, youth under 18, pregnant and postpartum tobacco users, racial and ethnic populations, smokeless tobacco users, lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals, persons with mental and/or behavioral health conditions, and persons with chronic health conditions. The Quitline offered evidence-based, supportive services with monetary incentives to pregnant and postpartum women who use tobacco. Coaching topics included enrollee’s history of tobacco use, identification of triggers, setting a quit date, relapse prevention, use of cessation aids/medications and developing a personal quit plan. The Free Nicotine Replacement Therapy (included patch, gum and/or lozenge) – for 4-8 weeks for qualified callers, as available and medically appropriate and was shipped to the enrollee’s home, or other preferred location.
The My Life, My Quit Program is a program designed by National Jewish Health with a focus to help young people quit vaping. The program offers services such as coaching and educational assistance to quit smoking online, via text messages or phone calls.
The Tobacco Dependence Treatment Program at Lancaster General Hospital offers individual and group counseling by certified tobacco treatment specialists. Programs are provided through the Southeastern Pennsylvania Tobacco Control Project (SEPA TCP), a program of the Health Promotion Council and funded through a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The program offers group counseling and one-on-one counseling classes and medications: nicotine patch, nicotine gum, and nicotine lozenge. The program is available to all Pennsylvania residents at no cost.
For more information on this partnership, go to Community Partnerships to Address the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Residents of Public Housing.