The MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence's Training and Education Newsletter

September 19, 2023

We hope you enjoy the Fall 2023 edition of the quarterly newsletter from the Training & Education Program at the MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence. CTI provides education and training on evidence-based tobacco treatment to healthcare and behavioral health professionals in Maine on behalf of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services. Our goal is to improve access to high quality, best practice tobacco treatment and create a network of tobacco treatment specialists across the state.

2023 - 2024 Training Season

The 2023 - 2024 CTI Training Season is well underway!

This year, participants have TWO options to complete the training requirement for the National Certificate in Tobacco Treatment Practice (NCTTP), offered by the National Association for Addiction Counselors (NAADAC): the Classic Pathway OR the Accelerated Pathway.

Classic Pathway

Treating Tobacco Together: Essential Skills Training

Treating Tobacco Together: Intensive Skills Training

Annual Tobacco Treatment & Prevention Conference

Accelerated Pathway

Coming March 2024

Through a combination of interactive, virtual sessions and online self-paced training, MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS) Program offers leading-edge, evidence-based education in an enjoyable and engaging online experience.

Registration is OPEN for the

Treating Tobacco Together: Essential Skills Trainings

In this training, you will learn about tobacco prevalence, products and burden, e-cigarettes and vaping, motivational interviewing, how to integrate brief, evidence-based tobacco treatment interventions into current practice, tobacco treatment medications and relapse prevention and recovery.

Learn More and Register

What's The Research?

Smoking Cessation in Stroke Survivors in the United States: A Nationwide Analysis

“Continued smoking after stroke is associated with a high risk of stroke recurrence and other cardiovascular disease. We sought to comprehensively understand the epidemiology of smoking cessation in stroke survivors in the United States. Furthermore, we compared smoking cessation in stroke and cancer survivors because cancer is another smoking-related condition in which smoking cessation is prioritized.”

Read Full Article

Parikh NS, Parasram M, White H, et al. Smoking cessation in stroke survivors in the United States: A nationwide analysis. Stroke. 2022;53(4):1285-1291. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.036941

Upcoming Webinar Presentations

Join us on October 18 at 11:30am EST for an informative webinar about health literacy and how it can be incorporated into conversations about tobacco & nicotine use with patients/clients. Participants will learn about health literacy, why it’s important, and some health literacy principles. We will discuss several studies about health literacy and how it impacts tobacco use, treatment, prevention, and quit attempts. Health literacy can improve patient understanding, self-efficacy, compliance, and health outcomes.

Join us on November 8 at 12pm EST for a webinar covering the evidence supporting lung cancer screening with low dose CT scans and describing the progress in implementation in Maine. The talk will also cover the stigma associated with smoking and lung cancer and describe the ways in which stigma negatively impacts outcomes across the lung cancer control continuum, including the uptake of lung cancer screening.

Amplifying Awareness and Disrupting Stigma: Strategies for Increasing Lung Cancer Screening Uptake

Presented by Staff Scientist Liz Scharnetzki, PhD and Physician Scientist Neil Korsen, MD, MSc of the MaineHealth Institute for Research and the Maine Lung

Cancer Coalition

Webinar Objectives:

Attendees will be able to explain the evidence for lung cancer screening
Attendees will be able to describe at least one challenge to implementing lung cancer screening
Attendees will be able to describe the ways in which lung cancer stigma manifests in clinical environments and how it impacts the uptake of lung cancer screening

Join us on November 29 at 12pm EST for a webinar examining evidence-based treatment approaches for co-occurring Tobacco Use Disorder and Mental Health/Substance Use Disorder as well as learn about resources and programs that are available for treating tobacco use in clients with co-occurring disorders. This webinar will also explore the answers to questions that provides often struggle with such as “what constitutes a co-occurring disorder?", “which condition should be treated first?”, and “how do other substance use and mental health disorders affect tobacco treatment?”

Join us on December 19 at 12pm EST for a webinar examining how the prevalence of tobacco/nicotine dependence in Maine compares to other regions in the country - both within demographic groups as well as within counties that have similar socio-economic and demographic profiles as counties in Maine. This webinar will also will also examine changes in tobacco use over time. Through all of these lenses, we will assess successes with reducing the burden of tobacco among Maine residents as well as identify current challenges and opportunities for future efforts.

Each Webinar offers 1.0 CHES Credit to those who attend the full presentation live. Please stay tuned to our website for updates on CME Credit availability.

Selected Resource

For more information about the Training & Education Program, visit:

Tobacco Cessation Training | Center for Tobacco Independence (ctimaine.org)

The MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence (CTI)

Tobacco Treatment Training and Education Program

CTI provides education and training on evidence-based tobacco treatment to healthcare and behavioral health professionals in Maine on behalf of the Maine CDC, DHHS. Our goal is to improve access to high quality, best practice tobacco treatment and create a network of tobacco treatment specialists across the state.