Kim Williams Smokefree Mental Health Project Manager, Hawke's Bay District Health Board, New Zealand
Abstract
New Zealand is investing in the design, development and delivery of innovative efforts to reduce the harm and wider costs of smoking with a focus on vulnerable populations, in order to reduce smoking prevalence to less than 5% by 2025.
Due to its historically strong culture of acceptance and tolerance of tobacco use, the mental health and addiction sector (MH&AS) is struggling to adopt smokefree policy changes despite much of the life expectancy of people with serious mental health illness being attributable to tobacco harm.
This project aimed to effect a national smokefree culture change within New Zealand’s mental health and addiction workforce. The project has been informed by an extensive stakeholder engagement phase, a national reference group, a project working group and expert peer review from Dr Hayden McRobbie and Dr Mark Wallace-Bell.
Best practice guidelines, online smokefree training tailored for the MH&AS context and smokefree evidence-based intervention tools were developed and implemented within a demonstration site.
The aim of this presentation is to highlight this project’s innovative approach and how it could be applied to any health service that is struggling to embrace the shift in culture required.
Source of funding: The Pathway to Smokefree New Zealand 2025 Innovation Fund.
