Sept. 1 marks the launch of a smoke-free campus initiative at Tri-County Mental Health Services. That is but another step forward in our agency’s efforts to improve the overall health and well-being of the people we serve, as well as the health of our staff and community members.

Because we recognize the challenges associated with smoking cessation, TCMHS has spent the past two years researching, consulting, and training staff to support this critical work. We have spoken to many colleagues, both state-side and across the country, who have already paved the road, and we are borrowing strategies they have identified as successful.

The National Center for Disease Control informs us that worldwide, tobacco use results in nearly 5 million deaths per year. If current trends continue, it is predicted that tobacco use will cause more than 10 million deaths annually by the year 2020.

Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and is responsible for an estimated 438,000 deaths per year, or about one out of every five deaths.

How can we read these statistics and do nothing in response?

TCMHS is committed to the concept of recovery, and we know that recovery must incorporate a substantial focus on wellness. We also know that people with serious mental illness are dying 25 years sooner than the general population, leaving them with many fewer years to enjoy their recovery and fully participate in community and family life.

Addressing the epidemic of chronic medical illness and premature death is essential to realizing the promise of recovery. Poor physical health puts additional barriers on the path to recovery, stealing time, energy and personal resources.

Discouraging the use of tobacco is just one of our initiatives aimed at improving overall health and well-being of our community.

In partnership with Central Maine Healthcare, we are making behavioral health care more accessible and less stigmatizing by integrating clinical social workers into primary care practices across the service area.

We know that emotional and mental health issues affect our bodies, and believe that caring for the whole person, together, is the fastest road to recovery. We know that 75 percent of primary-care patients have behavioral health needs, which either remain unaddressed or which place undue burden on the primary-care physician. We know that most patients present their concerns as both biological and psychological.

With seamless, integrated care in the medical environment, we are bringing care of the body and mind back together.

Our goal is to achieve the triple aim: to improve the patient experience, to improve health and to reduce costs. So far these integration projects are showing great promise to do all this and more.

Looking forward, we are also seeking to address the medical needs of people with severe mental illness who are often under-served in primary care. In that group, 68 percent of adults have one or more chronic physical conditions. In the coming year we will be integrating primary care into our clinics to address that.

Integrated primary care promises to be the health care delivery model of the future: patient driven, collaborative and holistic. It provides a viable model to meet the challenges of accountable care and health care reform, including the strengthening of strategic alliances, and patient centered care that is high quality and cost effective.

We look forward to joining our communities in modeling healthy lifestyles and creating systems of support and education that encourage our neighbors as well as ourselves to embrace choices such as smoke-free environments. Surely the healthy decisions we make today will change tomorrow’s outcomes!

Catherine R. Ryder is executive director of Tri-County Mental Health Services. She serves as secretary of the Maine Association of Mental Health Services, is a member of the Behavioral Health Homes Advisory Committee, the Lewiston/Auburn Public Health Committee, the board of the St. Mary’s Healthcare System, and the board of directors for the Mental Health Risk Retention Group.