Description: People with substance use disorders face many comorbidities that can further complicate their disease. This webinar will look specifically at two of those comorbidities, tobacco/nicotine use and infectious disease, and will explore the relationship between them.
People with substance use disorders use tobacco/nicotine and contract infectious diseases at much higher rates than the general population, both of which puts this population at higher risk for health complications and early death. People with behavioral health disorders, including substance use disorders, die nearly 5 years earlier than their peers (CDC, 2021).
Content will include an overview of prevention, harm reduction, and treatment interventions, with a specific focus on engaging clients in motivational conversations that support wellness. Participants will be given the opportunity to practice these skills during the training and will also learn how to integrate these topics into behavioral health treatment. A multitude of resources will be provided which participants can share with their respective programs to support employee engagement and retention in these areas.
Target Audience: Substance use and mental health treatment providers including direct care staff, counselors/clinicians, and clinical supervisors, especially those serving as Tobacco Education Coordinators and/or Program AIDS Coordinators for their programs; recovery support services staff and coaches; and all others interested in learning about this topic.
Learner Outcomes/ Behavioral Objectives:
- Participants will describe 5 reasons for addressing tobacco/nicotine use in substance use disorder and mental health treatment
- Participants will examine how to integrate the topics of tobacco/nicotine and infectious diseases into their current work with clients
- Participants will be able to describe how tobacco/nicotine use increases the severity and duration of infectious diseases
- Participants will learn motivational interviewing techniques which support positive behavioral change.
- Participants will gain multiple strategies for introducing and integrating wellness interventions into substance use treatment
