December 1, 2009
I wanted to send a heartfelt thank you to both of you for the materials and training that you shared with us. The evaluations were uniformly very positive and I continue to hear great testimonials to the value of the training at the meetings we’ve had here in the last couple of days. We do a lot of training here, and a number of people have indicated that this was one of the best we’ve done. People really appreciate Tara’s skills as a trainer, the clear information in the DVD, and the inclusion of the learning activities in the training format. We wanted an event that would get us kicked off for this effort and I think you successfully created the buzz we wanted. I’m very excited that we’re ready to move ahead with our next steps.

December 14, 2009
Our medical director sent us the attached article last week (Canadien Journal 09, Treatment of Tobacco Dependence in Mental Health and Addictive Disorders). I was thrilled to see how closely your materials match the research outcomes they cite.

Kathy Savicki
Clinical Director
Mid-Valley Behavioral Care Network

June 4, 2009
Harbor Homes and their partner agencies thoroughly enjoyed the Smoking Cessation training provided by the staff of Training for Change, Inc. Just two short weeks after the training, one of the partner agencies has already provided a staff training, including two of our community medical partners.  They were thrilled with the training and have begun brief interventions, have instituted a smoke-free culture at the office and are developing classes for clients.

Wendy LeBlanc
Assistant Director
Southern New Hampshire HIV/AIDS Task Force
Nashua, NH

March 2009
Training for Change, Inc, (TFC) provided comprehensive training to UIBH, a consortium of behavioral health providers. Sixteen agency sites participated in the tobacco training. Staff gained a significant amount of knowledge and skill and all the sites successfully implemented tobacco treatment services for their consumers. Their training guides you through establishing a group, addressing cultural changes, assessing and monitoring tobacco use as well as providing staff with the tools, skills and self-efficacy to integrate brief interventions agency-wide. We just followed their instructions step by step. Many consumers made quit attempts and the TFC staff worked closely with the programs and the UIBH leadership to adapt the initiative over time.

This training truly works to develop tobacco champions. The layout of the training and the engaging and interactive activities made it nearly impossible not to learn. Staff left the training feeling empowered and skillful. They returned to their agencies with a sense of leadership that allows them to be successful in advocating for and implementing services for individual with serious mental illness who want to quit smoking.

Andrew Cleek, Psy.D.
Director
Urban Institute for Behavioral Health

December 2009
I am so thrilled that your work is being so well received. You deserve it….and the work speaks for itself. I am really impressed with what I’ve seen so far!

MR
Municipal Health Department

Subject: RE: Google Alert - smoking and mental illness
Great job, Bernadette...thanks for writing this and for collaborating with us on the conference!

Daryl L. Sharp, PhD, RN, CS, NPP
Assistant Professor
Director, Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Program
Director, Adult/Family Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Program Principal Investigator/Project Director, 
URSON Tobacco Dependence Intervention Program

Dear Bernadette,

As Project Director of Adult Tobacco Cessation Services at Bay Area Community Resources, I have spent several years working to form alliances between tobacco control and mental health professionals. Three years ago we founded a county-wide coalition that has made some progress in this arena, but, as you know, it is difficult convincing medical and behavioral health professionals that mental health consumers should have access to the same quality of tobacco cessation services as the "general" population.

Smoke Alarm is the most eloquent, moving, and informative DVD I have seen, and it makes the case beautifully. You have expertly blended the rationale for compassionate, structured intervention with the realistic depiction of victory among the clubhouse members. Their authenticity in relating the struggle and joy of sustaining tobacco-free lives is one of the strongest selling points, out of many.

I would recommend this DVD to all tobacco control programs, whether they are largely policy-driven or offer cessation and education services. As a presenter and trainer, I am very proud to show it and discuss it with the social service and behavioral health agencies where I train staffs, as well.

Thank you so much for this valuable aid in getting the message across that everyone deserves to live tobacco-free and to have the help they need in achieving that goal.

Sincerely,

Beth Lillard, Project Director
Adult Tobacco Cessation Services

Reference: Article on Nursing.com 4.7.08

Bernadette,

Nice article! Well done!

Jill M. Williams, M.D. Associate Professor of Psychiatry and
Director of the Division of Addiction Psychiatry UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School

Dear Bernadette Cain,

I am writing to thank you, your staff and the clients who worked on this fabulous video - Smoke Alarm: The Truth about Smoking and Mental Illness. It is uplifting to see that there is new hope among consumers, family members, and service providers that persons can recover from serious mental illness, lead productive lives, and have meaningful relationships. Equally exciting and energizing is the clear message in your video "it is a myth that people with serious illness cannot stop smoking". The Clubhouse of Suffolk has taken an important leap in addressing the whole health of its clients and that includes smoking.

The video shows individuals with a burning desire to give themselves the gift of being smoke-free. To hear the stories of overcoming the fear that they will have a recurrence of mental illness if they stop smoking and another who feels that even with mental illness they deserve to have good things happen and this includes being smoke-free. You and your staff have provided a support system and I am confident that all across the country people will follow your lead and encourage many of their clients to address this very unhealthy addiction.

This is a wonderful video - thank you for sharing. 

Bob Curry
Marin County Tobacco Related Disease Control Program