While the prevalence of tobacco use has declined over the past decade among some demographic groups, smoking rates have remained steady—and even increased—among some socially and economically disadvantaged populations. Disparities remain in the use of supports for quitting.
Susan Flocke, associate director of the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods (PRCHN) and associate professor in the family medicine and community health departments, will give a presentation titled “Tobacco Use at Community Health Centers: Burden and Opportunities for Evidence-Based Cessation Strategies.”
Her talk will be held at the next PRCHN seminar Wednesday, Nov. 9, from noon to 1:15 p.m. in the ground floor conference room of the BioEnterprise Building.
In the City of Cleveland, tobacco use rates are nearly double the national rate. This is particularly concerning because of the strong association between the use of tobacco and increased risk of chronic disease, including heart and lung disease and multiple cancers.
Primary care settings have been identified as one important venue for addressing smoking cessation by identifying risk and offering assistance to quit. This presentation includes findings from two studies focused on the burden of tobacco use in Federally Qualified Health Centers, which provide primary care services in medically underserved urban and rural communities.
In her presentation, Flocke also will describe a local initiative designed to establish and implement a clinical community linkage between safety net practices and the Ohio Quitline for smoking cessation assistance.
Flocke’s research interests include preventive service delivery in the primary care setting, doctor-patient communication of health behavior change, and linkages to community resources to facilitate behavior change.
The CWRU PRCHN is one of eight PRCs engaged in the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network (CPCRN) and Flocke serves as the principal investigator for CWRU.
The CPCRN is a national network of academic, public health and community partners who work together to reduce the burden of cancer, especially among those disproportionately affected.
Flocke is leading local projects focused on establishing and implementing linkages between MetroHealth Health System primary care centers and the Ohio Quitline. She also is leading the cross-center initiative workgroup on Tobacco and Lung Cancer Screening to inform the burden of tobacco use among Federally Qualified Health Centers and low income populations.