Use of the PA free quitline among those living in public and affordable housing

Background: Since 2002, the Pennsylvania's (PA) Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, administered by the PA Department of Health, has provided telephone-based cessation counseling through the PA Free Quitline. Over time, PA has adjusted the data it collects from quitline participants to better understand who is participating and where outreach opportunities remain. Due to the increased discussion regarding increasing protections from secondhand smoke in public and affordable housing along with the generally higher smoking rates among lower socioeconomic populations, PA wanted to add Public Housing options to its list of collected demographics. Methods: As part of the Pennsylvania intake assessment the PA Free Quitline began collecting Public Housing information from participants starting in November 2012. Findings: Between November-December 2012, 1,927 participants identified themselves as living in Public Housing. Preliminary regional analyses indicated that Philadelphia and Southeast Pennsylvania has the largest proportion of participants living in public housing (27.8% and 16.7%, respectively); interestingly, participants from this demographic are in each of PA's regions, even within this brief time frame. This presentation will include examples of regional cessation-related outreach to public housing residents and further analyses of callers who live in public housing across regions, as well as examine differences, if any, in short term quit rates and service use (i.e. number of counseling calls and call duration). Conclusions: Quitline findings can inform future cessation outreach and smoke free initiatives, particularly those involving housing options, as well as enhance partnerships among regional primary contracts, public housing authorities, property owners and other program stakeholders.