I coordinate a program designed to help women who plan to get pregnant, are pregnant or have young children at home quit smoking. JSI's New Hampshire office, Community Health Institute, is implementing the New Hampshire Statewide Perinatal and Reproductive Age Smoking Cessation Project for the NH Department of Health and Human Services, Tobacco Prevention and Control Program.

Martha Bradley loading smoking cessation training materials into her car

Today I am meeting with staff from the two Area Health Education Centers and the Foundation for Health Communities. We're working on the details of an upcoming Train-the-Trainer program, which will bring together health educators, physicians' assistants and nurses to develop their training skills to deliver best practice tobacco treatment to women. These trainers will be equipped with knowledge and tools to then train staff at publicly funded and privately managed practice sites throughout NH with effective techniques and tools to move a woman along the continuum of quitting smoking. They will learn that nagging someone to quit does not work.

Martha Bradley packs up boxes in preparation for the New Hampshire Statewide Perinatal and Reproductive Age Smoking Cessation Project training.

Our meeting goes well and by the end we agree on the role and responsible of each partner. The Area Health Education Centers will recruit the practice sites and the trainers, JSI will work on the curriculum, and the Foundation for Health Communities will develop a protocol for offering intensive technical assistance

After the meeting, I work on further details for the training. I follow up with scheduled trainers to get their learning objectives and biographies. I plug this information into the templates for the application for nursing contact hours and continuing education credits for physicians. Then, we turn to working on the questions and methodology for the pre- and post-test for intervention.

As we sit around the table and plan this exciting training, we are keenly aware of the opportunity we have to improve the health of the next generation but also of the challenges we face from the looming budget cuts. The entire budget for the New Hampshire Tobacco Prevention and Control program is threatened. The state budget is in crisis, and elected officials are looking for sources to balance the State's budget. But until this happens, we persevere.

We all know that this intervention holds considerable promise. It leverages the inherent power that exists in the relationship between a patient and a physician. If an intervention is done right, a physician can positively influence a woman's desire and commitment to quit smoking.

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