The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: The Ohio Women's Coalition Smoking Cessation & Prevention Initiative (OWCSC&PI) assists the staff of 73 gender-specific alcohol and other drug (AOD) treatment facilities in Ohio in the process of integrating tobacco into existing treatment services. Such policy change is slow to develop as several barriers exist, such as myths regarding treating tobacco simultaneously with alcohol and other drugs, the prevalence of tobacco use in this population, and the resistance of staff to address tobacco dependence. Understanding staff knowledge of tobacco dependence is a necessary step toward policy change.

Methods: A questionnaire was mailed to the executive directors of the treatment facilities for distribution to staff. Current tobacco use and cessation history, current stage of change, and knowledge of tobacco-dependence were addressed. Fifty-four of the 73 facilities participated, for a total of 998 questionnaires.

Results: The OWCSC&PI found 64.6% of non-smokers and 21.1% of smokers agreed that their agencies should be tobacco-free and 54.5% of non-smokers and 18.2% of smokers agreed that all AOD treatment facilities should be tobacco-free. Nearly 63% of non-smokers and 44.2% of smokers agreed that their agency should treat nicotine dependence. Over 50% of non-smoking staff are supportive of incorporating tobacco in treatment, whereas smoking staff tend to be less supportive. Thus, resistance to treating tobacco dependence is not as strong as is assumed, rather resistance stems from little knowledge about how to provide treatment and from the common myths found in the recovery community. Such understanding guides the efforts of OWCSC&PI in creating system-wide policy change in Ohio.