Introduction:
There are many myths concerning people with mental illnesses, e.g. that smoking is the least of their problems and that they do not wish to quit smoking. Both myths have proven to be wrong. In the past years new evidence has evolved, one of them being that tobacco influences the effect of psycho-pharmaceuticals. However, the knowledge within this area is not easy accessible why there is a need to develop materials targeting health professionals working with this patient group and hereby improving the help for people with mental illnesses. The basic objective has been to provide health professionals with the necessary information in order to help people with mental illnesses to quit smoking.

Material and Methods:
In order to understand the health professionals needs regarding information about mental illnesses and smoking cessation, three qualitative focus groups and two individual interviews were completed. The health professionals were smoking-cessation-counselors, social educators, psychiatric nurses and psychiatric doctors – all working with people with mental illnesses. Before the interviews, the HPs had read a draft of the suggested material.

Results:
The topics of the interviews were content, language, and layout. Overall, the health professionals found the written material relevant. However, the groups of health professionals had different preferences concerning the length and type of material, the language used, and the specific content targeting the different health professionals. As result of the data collected from the interviews, the original material was divided into four editions, targeting each group of health professionals.

Conclusions:
It is essential to include the target groups in developing new materials to ensure the appropriate level of health literacy. Health literacy does not have a meaning in itself. It is only important in interaction with the target groups.