Shining a Light on Cancer & Health Inequities Part III: Dr. Amanda Fallin-Bennett
As a psychiatric mental health nurse early in her career, Dr. Amanda Fallin-Bennett quickly noted the disproportionate number of smokers in residential substance abuse treatment programs.
Over time, she also came to realize that nicotine addiction often exacerbated patients’ issues, leaving them short on money for necessities and wreaking havoc on their health.
Dr. Fallin-Bennett is trying to change these negative outcomes through smoking cessation programs aimed at residential treatment programs. Similar to the general population, most people want to quit, she says, but in that stressful environment, evidence has shown a more tailored approach is necessary.
“It’s becoming more and more common and more recognized for smoking cessation to be offered during residential substance abuse treatment,” she says. “But for a long time, there were persistent myths that if you try to stop smoking while you’re in treatment, you might be more likely to return to use of substances. Through extensive research, we now know that’s not true. In fact, if anything, quitting smoking actually improves your likelihood for a long-term and sustained recovery.”
Dr. Fallin-Bennett also works with residents in rural areas that are more prone to smoking, such as LGBTQIA+ youth and in rural areas, especially in the South, which has been slower to adopt anti-smoking legislation and higher tobacco taxes, both of which have been proven to reduce smoking rates.
She helped write a grant that is comparing 50 rural municipalities across four Southern states, only half of which have smoke-free ordinances, to determine what factors lead to successfully enacting smoke-free laws. By using an evidence-based approach, she is hoping to help create a roadmap to more smoke-free communities, and in turn, better health.
Read this full six-part series: Shining a Light on Health Inequities & Cancer: Nurse researchers are helping vulnerable populations battle the deadly disease
