A story about a training session hosted by the La Crosse Area Health Initiative included an interview with Bruce Christiansen, MA, PhD, senior scientist, General Internal Medicine and UW-Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention. 

Dr. Christiansen discussed the link between alcoholism and smoking. "With the exception of an acute crisis, there's plenty of evidence that if you're being treated for alcoholism, your outcome for alcoholism itself/risk of relapse is less if you also quit smoking at the same time," he said. 

As manager of the Wisconsin Nicotine Treatment Integration Project (WiNTiP), Dr. Christiansen focuses on strategies to help behavioral health patients quit using tobacco. His research interests include identifying effective strategies to address tobacco use among people with low income and among people living with mental illness. 

Resources:

• "Health Initiative targets smoking," WXOW La Crosse, June 21, 2017