Center Awarded $10 Million to Help Patients with Serious Mental Illness Quit Smoking
The Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital has been awarded $10 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study the effectiveness of two practical approaches to improve the health of people with mental illness in the community. The project will test whether tailored education to primary care doctors alone or combined with community health workers will help those with mental illness quit smoking. More than 1,100 patients at 50 Boston area community health clinics will be involved.
Eden Evins, MD, MPH, Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at MGH, will oversee the study, the largest research award the Center has received since its establishment in 2005. Bay Cove Human Services, Inc. is a lead partner on the project with Massachusetts General Hospital. Sally Reyering, MD, Medical Director for Mental Health Services at Bay Cove Human Services will partner with Dr. Evins to oversee the clinical component of this study, which will be led by Bay Cove Human Services and Vinfen, two of the largest mental health service providers in the Commonwealth.
For more information, read the press release from January 28, 2016.