Center for Tobacco Treatment Research and Training (CTTRT) Blog

Members from UMass Chan Medical School’s Center for Tobacco Treatment Research and Training attended Kicks Butts Day on April 3, 2019 at Massachusetts State House. Youth in Massachusetts united against tobacco use and joined other young people nationwide to mark Kick Butts Day. Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids sponsored the event.  Read more>>

As tobacco treatment specialists, our goal is to improve the quality of life of individuals by assisting them to quit smoking. Having a good understanding of the health consequences of tobacco use and the benefits of quitting will help you in your work with patients and clients. Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) developed a handout that shows how smoking can damage many parts of the body.  Click on the picture (on the left) to download and print the handout. This is a good resource that can serve as a reminder of how smoking affects different body systems and organs. You could also share this handout with your patients or clients when you talk to them about quitting smoking. Read more >>

Tobacco use causes over 6 million deaths per year worldwide and leads to hundreds of billions of dollars spent for medical costs and lost productivity. Effective, evidence-based treatment services for tobacco dependence such as those recommended by US Public Health Service's Clinical Guidelines: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: 2008 Update exist but are not always accessible to tobacco users. While many factors impact the availability and accessibility of treatment, one important factor needed to provide such services is the presence of skilled tobacco treatment professionals/Tobacco Treatment Specialist (TTS). Read more >> 

With today’s busy schedules, a lot of professionals are opting to attend online or distance learning courses for professional development. Online learning offers the flexibility and convenience that most professionals find helpful as they try to juggle their busy schedules. To fill the need for online courses, institutions and organizations are now using online platforms to create courses that address various topics that are of interest and useful to their workforce.  One such topic is tobacco treatment. Read more >>