Effects of a Tobacco-Free Work Site Policy on Employee Tobacco Attitudes and Behaviors, Travis County, Texas, 2010–2012

Abstract

BackgroundThe adoption of tobacco-free policies in behavioral health settings is an important step in reducing staff tobacco use as well as the high rates of tobacco use among people with mental illness and behavioral disorders. Studies have demonstrated the importance of staff support when implementing tobacco-free workplace policies, but there is limited research examining tobacco use prevalence among staff and staff attitude before and after policy adoption.Community ContextIntegral Care, a local authority for behavioral health and developmental disabilities in Austin, Texas, and Austin Public Health embarked on a comprehensive planning process before implementing a 100% tobacco-free campus policy. The objectives were 1) assess staff tobacco use and attitudes toward a tobacco-free policy, 2) communicate policy to staff, 3) provide staff education and training, and 4) provide cessation resources.MethodsIntegral Care and Austin Public Health conducted a web-based employee survey 6 months before and 6 and 12 months after implementation of the policy to measure tobacco use prevalence and attitudes among employees.OutcomeEmployees had significant improvements in tobacco use prevalence and attitudes toward the tobacco-free policy from pre-implementation to post-implementation. Tobacco use prevalence among staff decreased from 27.6% to 13.8%, and support for the policy increased from 60.6% to 80.3% at 12 months post-implementation.InterpretationAdoption of 100% tobacco-free campus policies in behavioral health settings can result in significant reductions in staff tobacco use. Leadership should provide staff with education, training, and cessation support before adoption of tobacco-free work site policies to ensure success.

Does support for smoke-free outdoor spaces increase after implementation?: A case study of a Dutch research center’s smoke-free campus transition

“…In line with previous research 6 , 14 , 19 , we found that initial support for the smoke-free campus was high, and increased in almost all subgroups after implementation. After the policy was implemented, more employees considered a smoke-free campus important.…”

“…Smoking employees are more likely to demonstrate productivity loss than their nonsmoking co-workers [3][4][5] . Comprehensive workplace tobacco policies, including policies regarding a smoke-free campus and buildings, can make it easier for employees to reduce the amount of cigarettes they smoke 6,7 . Such policies may help change the smoking culture at a workplace and to reduce the number of smoking-related cues on the premises.…”

“…While many studies suggest that support for smoke-free school grounds and campuses increases after implementation 14 , only a limited number of studies investigated changes in support for smoke-free non-educational campuses, such as workplaces, office premises and industrial areas. One study that measured this explicitly was a US study on a smoke-free worksite policy at a behavioral health institute 6 . After adopting a comprehensive smoke-free campus policy that prohibited smoking on all indoor and outdoor spaces, support for the policy among employees increased from 60.6% to 80.3% one year after implementation, according to that US study.…”

Attitudes, perceptions, and smoking behavior of university faculty and staff following the introduction of a comprehensive tobacco-free policy: a repeated cross-sectional survey in Lebanon

“…Consistent with many US studies, the majority of faculty and staff in both surveys had a positive attitude towards the policy with non-smokers always showing greater support and the proportion of smokers favoring such policy on campus signi cantly increasing post-policy implementation (18,(24)(25)(26)(27). In the Eastern Mediterranean region, no previous research has compared the attitude of university faculty and staff pre-and post-policy implementation, however, they have shown similar results in terms of policy support and differences related to the smoking status (28,29).…”

Smoking related outcomes before and after implementation of tobacco-free grounds in residential substance use disorder treatment programs

“…Currently, one-third of SUD treatment programs in the U.S. have restricted smoking policies on program grounds and there has been an increase in the prevalence of SUD treatment programs that offer smoking cessation services (Cohn et al, 2017;Marynak et al, 2018;Muilenburg et al, 2016;Shi and Cummins, 2015;SAMHSA, 2017). Tobacco-free grounds in the workplace, behavioral health care setting and college campus are often accompanied by an increase in tobacco cessation services offered to clients and staff (Correa-Fernandez et al, 2017;Hahn et al, 2012;Seidel et al, 2017) with the goal of increasing the use of these services to promote tobacco cessation. Providing tobacco-cessation services to clients and staff is an important component when implementing a TFG policy.…”