In support of improving patient care, Duke University Health System Clinical Education and Professional Development is accredited by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), to provide continuing education for the health care team. The designation was based upon the quality of the educational activity and its compliance with the standards and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).

Program Description: Tobacco dependence remains the number one cause of preventable disease and mortality in developed countries, with studies showing that about one in five deaths occurring in the United States is smoking-related. Additionally, the smoking prevalence among adults in the United States continues to decline. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the percentage of smokers in the U.S. over the age of 18 dropped from20.9% in 2005 to 16.8% in 2014, an historic low point. It was also reported that the overall number of smokers dropped from 45.1 million in 2005 to 40 million in 2014, even though the U.S. population is steadily increasing. Looking at the U.S. by region, the smoking rate was20.7% in the Midwest, 17.2% in the South, and 15.3% in the Northeast. People who live in the West had the lowest smoking rate at 13.1%. In North Carolina, 20.9% of the adult population (aged 18+ years) currently smoke cigarettes. The Duke-UNC Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training Program is a unique collaboration of three leaders in tobacco treatment, education, and research: the Duke Smoking Cessation Program, the University of North Carolina Tobacco Treatment Program, and the North Carolina Division of Public Health. This 1-hour module, presented by faculty from the Duke-UNC TTS Training Program, introduces several foundational behavioral and mindfulness interventions for tobacco treatment. Tobacco treatment specialists use a wide variety of skills and counseling strategies to engage people in making the changes necessary to become and remain tobacco free. In addition, it can be very helpful to know how to teach basic mindfulness skills. Mindfulness is a simple skill that can help people with tobacco dependence by reducing stress, helping them manage urges, challenging emotions, and addictive thoughts.