Clock ticking on smoking at publicly funded mental health, substance abuse treatment facilities in Utah

OGDEN — All manner of numbers are running through Stephen Willard's mind these days.

It's been 55 years since he took up cigarette smoking, which, at times, was a two-pack-a-day habit that started when he was 7 years old. It's been 10 weeks since Willard, an aide at Weber Human Services' mental health residential treatment facility, quit smoking.

He can tell you off the top of his head the number of days remaining before Weber Human Services becomes smoke-free under the statewide Recovery Plus initiative. The program requires mental health treatment and substance abuse treatment programs in Utah that receive public funding to be tobacco free by the end of the year.

Willard, 62, has flirted with the idea of quitting. He's managed to reduce his smoking to 10 cigarettes a day. But this is different. He's quit, he hopes, for good.

"I have 16 or 17 clients at any time. In order to get the clients to get smoke-free, I need to be smoke-free, too," he said.

The wellness initiative is a joint project between the Utah Department of Human Services and the Utah Department of Health. It seeks to improve clients' overall health and lengthen the life spans of people in substance abuse and/or mental health treatment. Research shows these clients have shorter life spans than the general population, largely due to poor physical health. Smoking contributes to many of these issues.

As part of ramping up to the deadline, the Utah Division of Substance Abuse & Mental Health asked local substance abuse/mental health authorities to survey its staff and clients regarding the opportunities and barriers to moving to a tobacco-free status.

Most respondents said tobacco cessation was a step in the right direction. Although some clients indicated they did not like the no-tobacco policy, they said it would not preclude them from seeking treatment.

Both clients and providers said the policy was a significant "culture change."

Smoking breaks and using smoking as a reward have long been staples of mental health treatment.

"For a long time we built smoking breaks into the residential treatment regimen," said Noreen Heid, Recovery Plus program administrator in the state Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health.

"We need to change the paradigm a little bit and move to some healthier behaviors."

In the substance abuse treatment arena, traditional practice has been to "deal with one addiction at a time."