Upcoming Regional Coalition Meetings
Come join us for our Regional Pennsylvania Tobacco-Free Coalition quarterly meetings. Learn about the latest trainings, resources, projects and website updates currently taking place. All meetings below will be held from 10 AM through 2 PM.
- SC Region: March 7, 2023
- NC Region: March 14, 2023
- NE Region: March 15, 2023
- SC Region: June 6, 2023
- NC Region: June 7, 2023
- NE Region: June 13, 2023
If you are interested in attending any one of these meeting, please contact Jennifer King. Meetings may be held virtually or in-person. Meeting space has been reserved for March. Look out for more details coming soon.
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Unforgettable Past Webinar: La Tanisha Wright, Former Tobacco Employee
On December 7th, the All-Regional Tobacco-Free Coalition meeting was held along with an unforgettable webinar. The Coalition hosted La Tanisha Wright as a keynote speaker.
La Tanisha is the founder and CEO of Follow the Signs, LLC. She previously worked for the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company (now RJ Reynolds). La Tanisha shared her experience and knowledge on how tobacco companies use marketing efforts towards Focus and Non-Focus retail areas, specifically targeting gender and race/ethnic groups. She has been described as one of the foremost experts on predatory, tobacco industry, retail marketing tactics. For more details, visit www.follow-the-signs.com.
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Tobacco-Free Campus 2023 Summit
The Pennsylvania Department of Health, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco (PACT), invites you to the 2023 Tobacco-Free Campus Summit taking place virtually on March 1, 2023 from 10 AM to 3 PM. Learn about the importance of a comprehensive tobacco-free campus policy and the resources available to support policy development and implementation on your campus.
This interactive summit is open to anyone interested in turning their college campus into a tobacco-free campus, whether they are just starting out or are in the process of drafting or updating a policy. Registration is open! For questions, please contact Amber Fields or Lauren Chappel.
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ACT: Training to Address Youth Cessation - Now Available!
According to the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, more than 3 million U.S. middle and high school youth reported currently using any tobacco product. The survey also found that 65% of students who currently use any tobacco product reported seriously thinking about quitting. Influential adults who work with youth tobacco users need the resources to intervene and help support them in their quit efforts. To further health equity among the adolescent population, the American Lung Association will now offer a free online training course for adults who work with youth to provide tools to help them intervene with effective strategies to help support youth tobacco users quit.
In a news release shared on January 4, 2023, the American Lung Association in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics, announced the launch of a new online training. The training to address Youth Cessation Training is called ACT (Ask, Counsel, Treat). This training is a one-hour course that provides an overview for healthcare professionals, school personnel and community members in youth-supportive roles to conduct a brief intervention for teens who use tobacco. Based on the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Youth Tobacco Cessation: Considerations for Clinicians, the course outlines the steps of Ask, Counsel, Treat, and provides guidance, support and best practices for effectively delivering ACT as a brief intervention for adolescents who identify as tobacco users, including e-cigarettes.
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Multi-Unit Housing Statewide Summit: February 16, 2023
The PA Department of Health, in partnership with several organizations, invites you to their informative, Multi-Unit Housing PA Statewide Summit. The Summit will be held on February 16, 2023, from 1:00 PM – 3:30 PM. This virtual Summit includes housing experts and peers discussing the process and the available support for a smoke free policy. Registration for this Summit is now open.
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January is National Radon Action Month!
The month of January is National Radon Action Month. The American Lung Association kicked off the new year with a press release called, "Radon Causes 21,000 Deaths a Year and High Levels Exist in Millions of American Homes."
What do you need to know about radon?
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What is it? Radon is an odorless, tasteless and colorless naturally occurring radioactive gas emitted from the ground.
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How does radon get into your home? Radon gas can enter a home through cracks in floors, basement walls, foundations and other openings.
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How is it dangerous? Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the US, responsible for an estimated 21,000 deaths each year. People who have never smoked make up one out of 7 radon-related lung cancer deaths each year.
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How do you test your home for radon? DIY affordable & easy tests are available to test your home.
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Want to know more? Take the Lung Association’s Radon Basics free, online course.
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FDA Releases New Ads
This week, the FDA’s “The Real Cost” Youth Cigarette Prevention Campaign launched two new ads and, for the first time, will focus on the negative mental health effects of cigarette smoking and withdrawal in an ad.
One ad, “Auctioneer, ” highlights the fact that cigarette withdrawal can lead to anxiety, and the other ad, “Said Every Smoker Ever” highlights the fact that 3 out of 4 teens who smoke will continue to smoke into adulthood. These new ads aim to increase awareness that cigarette smoking can worsen the ongoing mental health crisis among teens. Research shows that a significant proportion of high school students experienced poor mental health during the past few years. Cigarette smoking can lead to nicotine addiction, which can ultimately, negatively, impact teens’ mental health.
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Through with Chew Youth Activity
To celebrate Through with Chew week, February 19-25, and the Great American Smoke Out, February 23, next month, TRU is encouraging youth to complete the Chew on This activity.
This is an opportunity for TRU groups to educate others about the dangers of smokeless tobacco and offer them a tasty treat to chew on instead. Find all the details for this activity in the instruction sheet.
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Coalition Member Spotlight / Highlights |
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PA LGBTQ - 2022 Health Needs Assessment Report
Article by Chrystina Obleschuk, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
The 2022 PA LGBTQ Health Needs Assessment report is now available! Every other year, the Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center does a Health Needs Assessment of LGBTQ Pennsylvanians. This dataset includes vital data on tobacco use. A pdf version of the 2022 PA LGBTQ Health Needs Assessment Report is currently available.
For more information about this report, or if you are interested in utilizing the findings from the PA LGBTQ Health Needs Assessment, please contact Christina Graham, MPH.
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Lehigh Valley Health Network has Patient Featured in Article
Article by Lindsey Dietrich, Lehigh Valley Health Network
Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) highlighted one of Lindsey Dietrich's patient's stories this month regarding LVHN's Tobacco Treatment Program. The article below starts out describing Alan's life.
Bethlehem resident Alan “Char” Hartley, 54, is a family man. When he’s not at work as a chef (another one of his passions), you can find him spending time with his wife, two children and three dogs.
However, up until October 2021, there was somewhere else you would most likely find him: outside smoking a cigarette. “I started smoking when I was 15 years old, and after 38 years, I was smoking about two packs a day,” Hartley says. “I had tried quitting over the years on my own, but the habit always seemed to come back with a vengeance. Even though my father and brother were also smokers, and both passed away from lung cancer, I had trouble giving it up.”
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