Key Points: In January 2004 the Newfoundland and Labrador Smokers' Helpline created the first Canadian fax referral program called ‘CARE' (Community Action and Referral Effort). The Smokers' Helpline has crafted a very successful program built on strategic added-value partnerships. The result has been official endorsement of the Helpline by health associations, testimonials from health care providers, the inclusion of the CARE program into hospital policy, awards for excellence in community relations, sustainability of the Smokers' Helpline, and high numbers of referrals. Currently, 29% of all physicians and 48% of family physicians refer (without fee-for-service measures in place) creating a 250% increase in caller volume. The CARE program is officially launched to physicians, nurses, and pharmacists and will be launched to social workers in early 2007. School counsellors also use a modified version of CARE for youth, via e-mail and e-counselling as opposed to fax and telephone counselling. CARE has created sustainability of the Smokers' Helpline through the support of hundreds of community partners and health professionals who depend upon its service, accounting for close to 70% of the Helpline's caller volume.

Learning Objectives: Identify strategies to build effective and long-term partnerships with health care providers.

Benefits: Creating strategic partnerships and ‘getting health care providers and community leaders to CARE' about your program as if it was their own, creates success and sustainability.