Integrating Worksite Smoking Cessation Services Into the Construction Sector: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

Background. Smoking prevalence among Hispanic/Latino construction workers in the United States is very high (31%). Aims. To investigate tobacco use profiles in these minority workers and explore their management’s views about implementing sustainable worksite smoking cessation services. Methods. Analysis of baseline data from a smoking cessation trial among Hispanic/Latino construction workers ( n = 134; adult men ≥18 years), and semistructured, 45-minute interviews with 24 key personnel at six construction companies in south Florida were conducted. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed thematically. Results. Overall, 43.3% of workers were Cuban, and 81.3% had low acculturation level. Nicotine dependence levels were “high” in 61.8% of workers. Half of the workers had a successful quit attempt but only 9.9% received advice from a physician to quit smoking, 16.7% used medication to quit, and 79.2% did not receive assistance. Participants in the interviews stated that nothing was provided to help smokers quit smoking and considered distributing self-help materials with free medications as the most appropriate service. Challenges to integrating the service were time restriction and cost. Recommendations for implementing the service were local/state government mandate. Discussion. Tailoring tobacco treatment to Hispanic/Latino construction workers’ job circumstances and culture is essential to support their cessation efforts. Integrating worksite tobacco treatment services into other available health promotion programs (e.g., safety) and enforcing smoke-free legislation in the construction sector can facilitate its adoption. Conclusion. Involving key stakeholders and mandating the service by the State and local government are necessary to integrate sustainable worksite smoking cessation services in the construction sector.

Implementing a Novel Workplace Smoking Cessation Intervention Targeting Hispanic/Latino Construction Workers: A Pilot Cluster Randomized Trial

“…Second, the intervention was implemented in collaboration with company leadership, and workers were introduced and invited to participate in the study directly by their safety managers. Safety managers are responsible for the safety and well-being of workers, are trusted by the workers, and have daily contact with them, which makes them optimal for motivating healthy behaviors including smoking cessation among their workers (Asfar et al, 2019). In contrast to the two sited studies, outcome differences between the active treatment and control interventions were not statistically significant given the high 6-month quit rate in the control group (20.3%).…”

“…More efforts and larger trials are needed to optimize strategies to integrate the intervention in the construction sector. In our formative research with companies’ leadership, safety managers were identified as the optimal people to provide sustainable worksite smoking cessation services in the construction sector (Asfar et al, 2019). Engagement of safety managers in smoking cessation delivery aligns with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Total Worker Health recommendations to integrate disease prevention activities within work-related safety and health hazard mitigation (Feltner et al, 2016).…”

“…Several formative studies with HCWs and their management were conducted to develop a worksite-based smoking cessation intervention tailored to HCWs (Asfar, Caban-Martinez, et al, 2018; Asfar et al, 2019; Dietz et al, 2018). This study aimed to test the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of the developed intervention in a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial.…”

Exploring the structure and emerging trends of construction health management: a bibliometric review and content analysis

“…For instance, Jones et al (2019) investigated current approaches to managing occupational health in the construction industry and their limitations such as lower priority than safety, lack of ownership and poor health service provision. For the organization level, studies on "health program (T8)" are the most cited, accounting for 12.2% of the total, which focused on assessing the effectiveness of health programs, such as participatory ergonomics (Visser et al, 2019), nutrition training (Chung et al, 2019) and smoking cessation services (Asfar et al, 2019). Two health intervention perspectives were identified, namely behavior-driven health intervention and technology-driven health intervention.…”

HIV patients’ perceptions of a potential multi-component mindfulness-based smoking cessation smartphone application intervention

“…Mainly, depression is a significant barrier to quitting smoking among PLWH [13][14][15]. This is concerning given that 40%-60% of PLWH are depressed [16], a rate three times that of the general population (3%-14%) [17,18]. Furthermore, cigarette smoking among PLWH is associated with lower adherence to anti-retroviral therapies (ART), which can influence HIV pathogenesis [19][20][21].…”