New Hampshire adults with cognitive and/or mobility disabilities are more likely to smoke cigarettes than adults without disabilities. The Disability in Focus, March 2018 data brief, released by the NH Disability & Public Health Project (DPH), shows that NH Adults with disabilities are motivated to quit smoking.
The DPH project worked with the NH Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Program to add new questions to their QuitNow-NH intake survey to better understand smoking trends and motivation to quit among NH people with disabilities.
Between August 2017 and January 2018, 68% of callers reported a mental health condition, 32 % a mobility limitation, 16% a learning difficulty, and 3% a developmental disability. This suggests that people with disabilities who use tobacco are motivated to quit.
“When it comes to smoking cessation, it is important to make sure that strategies are accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities,” explains Kimberly Phillips, DPH Principal Investigator and co-author of the report. “We will continue to collect disability data with the QuitNow-NH program for the next few years. Together with our state partners, we’ll use this data to inform some action steps.”
Learn more about the work DPH is engaged in to improve the health and wellness of people with disabilities and how you can get involved: www.nhdisabilityhealth.org.
The NH Disability & Public Health Project (DPH), funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cooperative agreement number 1NU27DD000007, is a collaboration between the Institute on Disability at the University of New Hampshire and the NH Division of Public Health Services (DPHS). The project goal is to improve the health and quality of life of people with disabilities in NH by developing and strengthening the capacity of the state’s public health programs and initiatives to be accessible to and include people with intellectual disabilities and mobility limitations. The contents of this report are the responsibility of DPH staff and do not necessarily represent the views of the CDC or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
