National Working Group for ACTTION

December 28, 2009

Earlier this year, Partnership for Prevention was awarded a grant from the Pfizer Foundation to help the organization further engage states in promoting the Call for ACTTION recommendations established in November 2008. The goal of the Call for ACTTION is to ensure that every tobacco user has access to comprehensive treatment services by the year 2020. Through this grant, Partnership will create a grant program for states that wish to replicate the National Working Group for ACTTION’s efforts and push forward the recommendations of the Call for ACTTION on a local level.  

Partnership is looking to provide grants to state-based initiatives that will lead to an increase in coverage and utilization of comprehensive tobacco cessation services for all tobacco users. The program is aimed at building relationships among traditional and non-traditional tobacco control organizations, while focusing entirely on smoking cessation treatment. 

Soon, Partnership will begin promoting its request for grant proposals, with an interest in those that will help private businesses and health insurers enhance their capacity to address the importance of tobacco cessation from an economic, as well as a health reform and quality care, perspective. Proposals are encouraged to be integrated with a group’s efforts around policy changes (e.g., smoke free laws, tobacco product excise tax increases, communication efforts) to successfully motivate public/private insurers/purchasers to make comprehensive cessation services available and thereby enhance the efficacy of policy changes in helping tobacco users successfully quit. An additional positive component to a proposal would be a cooperative activity with other major initiatives around cancer prevention and survivorship, where helping people to quit using tobacco is an integral component of those efforts.  

The programs proposed will vary by grant applicant, spanning from those that involve the creation of state and regional alliances to share best practices, as well as case studies to encourage adoption of comprehensive services within the public sector or private workplaces. Other proposals could be the creation of a speaker’s bureau and/or education/resource teams that could be available to consult and provide real-time guidance/assistance to public health programs, business leaders and others on various aspects of comprehensive treatment (from benefit design options to return on investment calculations). 

Partnership is thrilled to have the opportunity to further promote the Call for ACTTION on a local, state-based level through awarding these grants to interested tobacco control advocates.  

Your Call to Action: Stay tuned for more communications from Partnership for Prevention regarding the ACTTION grants and consider applying with a team from your state.