Innovation and translation in smoking cessation care for people with mental illness and substance use disorders

Background: Tobacco smoking is the largest contributor to the poor physical health of people with mental ill health (MI) and those with substance use (SU), which the first National Mental Health Report Card in 2012 accurately described as a ‘national disgrace’. People living with MI and people with SU typically die 10–20 years earlier than the general population, largely due to smoking-related
diseases. They are twice as likely to have cancer, five times as likely to have cardiovascular disease and six times as likely to have asthma as people with no mental health condition. The massive contribution of smoking to their disease burden reflects a complex combination of clinical, behavioural and psychosocial factors that make smoking cessation particularly challenging. Smokers with MI and SU are as motivated to quit smoking but receive less encouragement to quit from health professionals and are less likely to succeed when they try. Evidence-based smoking cessation interventions are underutilized by smokers with MI and SU, and there are remarkably few programmes that specifically cater for people with MI and SU. There is an urgent need to develop research-informed and highly accessible, appropriately tailored cessation services for smokers with MI and SU.
Objectives: This presentation will provide a research update on the latest developments in smoking cessation treatments for people with MI and SU and their use in practice.