Big news - 2019 has been designated as the Year of Cessation!

Dear Colleagues,
 
I have some good news to share with you. At last week’s National Partners’ Meeting in Atlanta (hosted by CDC/OSH on November 7-8), Dr. Corinne Graffunder, director of OSH, announced a plan to designate 2019 as the Year of Cessation! This is a very exciting opportunity for those of us who work on cessation. NAQC will be engaging the Advisory Council and the membership-at-large in considering ways for all of us to support and leverage this important CDC initiative! One very important way is to submit strong abstracts to NCTOH so that we have an exceptional cessation track at the conference in August 2019! (Please note: The abstract deadline for NCTOH has been extended to December 12^th.)
 
OSH’s message on the Year of Cessation:

• Cessation matters now as much as ever. A changing environment demands innovation to expand and improve what we do to help people quit, including technology, reaching priority populations, offering treatment services in clinical and non-clinical settings and working with a wider array of partners.
• OSH has gathered, synthesized and created recommendations through its “Reimagining Cessation” activities, to offer a clear and contemporary vision for cessation that considers research, practice, lessons learned and contextual factors.

OSH’s priority areas:

• Increase quit attempts among people who use tobacco products
• Increase the use of evidence-based cessation interventions
• Increase reach of evidence-based cessation interventions

OSH’s proposed 2019 timeline:

• Quarter 1: Focus on the smoker and quit attempts (New Year’s resolutions)
• Quarter 2: Focus on conditions improved by quitting and health systems (Tips campaign launches and Surgeon General’s Report on Cessation is published)
• Quarter 3: Focus on quitlines, cessation interventions, and linkages to broader tobacco control policies (NCTOH)
• Quarter 4: Focus on clinicians and real-world use of evidence-based cessation interventions (Pharmacy month, Health literacy month, Great American Smoke-out)

What role should NAQC play in the Year of Cessation?
NAQC staff will keep you informed as we learn more about the Year of Cessation and we look forward to hearing your suggestions for ways we can make the most of this great opportunity.
 
Here are a few activities we want you to know about:

• November 20: Advisory Council will provide recommendations to NAQC about key activities we should consider in support of the Year of Cessation.
• Early December: NAQC will survey members to gain your feedback about key activities we should consider in support of the Year of Cessation.
• December 12: Submit your quitline /cessation focused abstracts for NCTOH by the December 12 deadline. You will find the abstract requirements at: http://www.cvent.com/events/2019-national-conference-on-tobacco-or-health/custom-39c914af7bc18d41639a04eec417a7f095.aspx
• End of December: Consider adding the optional MDS question on public housing residency to your quitline intake by the end of December so we can assess the use of state quitlines by smokers living in public housing. Information available at: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.naquitline.org/resource/resmgr/report_measuringthenumberofp.pdf
• August 26, 2019: NAQC plans to host workshops on Monday, August 26, the day before NCTOH begins. Please HOLD THE DATE so that you can attend and we can celebrate the Year of Cessation together!