American journal of preventive medicine
-
Direct-to-Member Household or Targeted Mailings: Incentivizing Medicaid Calls for Quitline Services.
Innovative methods are needed to promote tobacco cessation services. The Medi-Cal Incentives to Quit Smoking project (2012-2015) promoted modest financial and medication incentives to encourage Medi-Cal smokers to utilize the California Smokers' Helpline (Helpline). This article describes the implementation and impact of two different direct-to-member mailing approaches. ⋯ This article is part of a supplement entitled Advancing Smoking Cessation in California's Medicaid Population, which is sponsored by the California Department of Public Health.
-
Violence is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for youth, with more than 600,000 emergency department visits annually for assault-related injuries. Risk for criminal justice involvement among this population is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to characterize arrests among high-risk, assault-injured, drug-using youth following emergency department treatment. ⋯ Drug-using assault-injured youth have high rates of arrest. Emergency department and community interventions addressing substance use and violence involvement may aid in decreasing negative violence and criminal justice outcomes among high-risk youth.
-
Certain racial and ethnic minorities have lower utilization of tobacco cessation services, such as Helpline counseling and cessation medications. The goal of the California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) Incentives to Quit Smoking Program was to facilitate successful cessation by promoting modest financial and cessation medication-related incentives to increase engagement with the California Smokers' Helpline counseling services. Differences in the response to incentives and outreach on engagement with Helpline services among racial/ethnic groups within the Medi-Cal population were examined. ⋯ This article is part of a supplement entitled Advancing Smoking Cessation in California's Medicaid Population, which is sponsored by the California Department of Public Health.
-
The transition to adulthood can be stressful for minority adolescents, and many may cope through unhealthy behaviors, including substance use and obesity-related behaviors. This study tested substance use and obesity trajectories over time in African American youth, longitudinal associations of trajectories with mental and physical health in adulthood, and whether self-control and sex predict trajectories. ⋯ The transition to adulthood is a vulnerable period for many African Americans. Given the commonalities of substance use and obesity in their rewarding/stress-relieving properties, similar prevention efforts may help stem the rise of both in these youth.
-
The California Tobacco Control Program is the longest standing, publicly funded tobacco control program in the U. S. California's adult smoking rate declined from 23.7% (1989) to 11% (2016) but California still has more than 3 million smokers dispersed over 58 counties, requiring a coordinated approach to further tobacco control. ⋯ Now, as tobacco prevention is increasingly prioritized for quality improvement, California Tobacco Control Program is funding CA Quits, a statewide tobacco-cessation learning collaborative and technical assistance resource to promote integration of tobacco treatment services and quality improvement activities into safety-net health systems. CA Quits, in coordination with the Helpline, will connect public health departments, Medi-Cal plans, and safety-net providers to accelerate health systems change for tobacco-cessation treatment throughout the state. SUPPLEMENT INFORMATION: This article is part of a supplement entitled Advancing Smoking Cessation in California's Medicaid Population, which is sponsored by the California Department of Public Health.