A Culturally Tailored Tobacco Cessation Program: Helping LGBT Members “Call It Quits”

July 22, 2010 - Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community typically have much higher smoking rates than non-LGBT people, with LGBT individuals having a 40 to 70 percent greater risk of smoking. However, many smoking cessation programs fail to address the various cultural and social factors that contribute to the higher smoking prevalence among the LGBT community, such as “higher levels of stress and discrimination, frequent patronage of bars and clubs, and higher rates of drug and alcohol use.” The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota’s Stop-Smoking Program has been working to address these issues by providing culturally tailored tobacco cessation support to the LGBT community of Minnesota, where 41 percent of adult LGBT members smoke compared to the state rate of 17.6 percent.

To adequately address the needs of Minnesota’s LGBT community, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota worked with the National LGBT Tobacco Control Network to provide cultural competency training to all “Quit Coaches” within the Call It Quits Collaborative, which is a network of eight telephone quitlines that are operated by seven different Minnesota health plans and ClearWay Minnesota. Not only did the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota use culturally relevant promotional campaigns, but they also developed a “triage” telephone number where callers are connected to the correct quitline based on their insurance information. Along with this “triage” number, a Call It Quits website was developed to help potential callers know what to expect and to dissuade any concerns they may have. When calling the various quitlines, callers are also asked their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, a question developed to help assure and welcome LGBT persons. In addition, a supplemental guide to quitting which is culturally tailored for LGBT individuals is offered to all LGBT callers.

While there has been no formal evaluation of the program and its health outcomes yet, it is evident that the program has “enhanced access to culturally tailored smoking cessation services, increased knowledge and understanding among tobacco cessation coaches of issues related to smoking within the LGBT community, and generated high levels of satisfaction among participants and LGBT community members.” As a result, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) rated evidence from the Stop-Smoking Program to be suggestive of an association between this innovation and its targeted outcomes.

For more information please visit: http://www.innovations.ahrq.gov/content.aspx?id=2833

National Working Group for ACTTION

Partnership for Prevention

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