UW-CTRI Regional Outreach Specialist Allison (Allie) Gorrilla has taken on an additional duty—coordinating the Wisconsin Nicotine Treatment Integration Project (WiNTIP).
WiNTiP was co-founded by Dr. Eric Heiligenstein and David “Mac” Macmaster back in 2008, and originally managed by UW-CTRI Distinguished Researcher Dr. Bruce Christiansen, who retired in 2022. It is supported by the Wisconsin Commercial Tobacco Prevention and Treatment Program, led by Vicki Huntington.
Gorrilla took the WiNTiP reigns from Karen Conner, who recently became UW-CTRI Director of Outreach.
The goal of WiNTiP is to help behavioral health care providers to systematically assist their clients with quitting smoking, chewing or vaping tobacco. WiNTiP is also focused on helping mental health and addiction recovery organizations establish tobacco-free policies at their facilities.
While smoking prevalence nationwide is 11.5 percent, approximately 20 percent of American adults with mental health conditions smoke. In addition, according to a meta-analysis, when people quit tobacco and other substances at the same time, they’re 25-percent more likely to remain abstinent from all substances than if they don’t quit smoking.
Wisconsin behavioral health providers who treat substance use disorders are now officially required to formulate plans to assess and treat tobacco use and have a policy about smoke-free environments. It’s due to the State of Wisconsin’s revised Administrative Code Chapter 75. Recently, regional outreach specialists have focused on integrating tobacco treatment into substance use facilities.
“Allie has worked at UW-CTRI for more than 12 years as a Regional Outreach Specialist,” Conner said. “Her experience working with health systems is substantial, and she has developed strong relationships with the state department of health, community partners, and health systems. I’m excited for her to lead this next era of WiNTiP so that we can continue helping those populations that smoke at the highest rates to quit.”
For example, as WiNTiP worked with substance use facilities, the team noticed an intersection between behavioral health issues and those who have been incarcerated.
“We realized there’s an opportunity to work with the criminal justice system because we know a vast majority of prisoners smoke and many of these people will relapse to using tobacco almost immediately after being released from prison,” Conner said. “What I appreciate about Allie is her creativity in how to expand WINTIP to help those who need it.”
Gorrilla has become a national spokesperson on how to systematically help people involved in the criminal justice system quit tobacco use and stay tobacco-free after release.
Since 2008, WiNTiP has:
- Initiated systems change by offering modest mini grants, generating significant results across the state. To watch videos about how those mini-grants have led to tobacco treatment integration, click here.
- Created online trainings like the Bucket Approach, which has enrolled more than 1,300 providers from 48 states and 11 countries who have rated it an 8.4 out of 10.
- Created and maintained helpusquit.org, a worldwide hub for information on tobacco and behavioral health that has reached 5500 people in the last 12 months.
- Collaborated to help update DHS Chapter 75 language that requires substance use facilities in Wisconsin to have language in place regarding how they assess tobacco use and their tobacco-free policy.
“With the vision, passion, and persistence of past WiNTiP leadership coupled with the strong support from our DHS partners, WiNTiP has accomplished great things since its inception,” Gorrilla said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to lead the program as the work continues to focus on supporting DHS 75 providers with tobacco treatment integration. I look forward to developing new relationships and seeing how we can continue to do great work at the intersection of behavioral health and the criminal legal system to address disparities in the behavioral health population.”