RESUMO
In 1999, the NSW Health Smoke Free Workplace Policy directed that grounds of health sites would become smoke free, in addition to the existing policy requiring smoke-free buildings. This was one of the first attempts by any health service to exclude tobacco entirely from health sites. This task required the adoption of evidence-based management of tobacco dependence and changing the culture of smoking in the health service. There were many barriers to implementation.
Assuntos
Regulamentação Governamental , Instalações de Saúde/normas , Política de Saúde/legislação & jurisprudência , Política Organizacional , Fumar/legislação & jurisprudência , Poluição por Fumaça de Tabaco/legislação & jurisprudência , Promoção da Saúde , Humanos , New South Wales , Prevenção do Hábito de Fumar , Poluição por Fumaça de Tabaco/prevenção & controleRESUMO
AIM: To evaluate changes in staff smoking rates following the implementation of Smoke Free Health Care, an innovative, change-management process that introduced a smoke-free workplace policy in the North Coast Area Health Service of NSW. METHODS: Survey questionnaires were sent to all staff before and after the introduction of the policy. Return rates were 17.3% (690/3988) in 1999 and 25.4% (2012/7921) in 2007. Chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression analysis were used to determine differences. RESULTS: Staff smoking rates decreased significantly from 22.3% to 11.8% (p<0.0001). Smoking rates in 1999 were not significantly different to the state population's (22.3% and 24.1%, p=0.3), but were significantly different in 2007 (11.8% and 20.1%, p<0.0001). Over a quarter (27.6%) of staff who smoked when implementation began quit smoking; more than twice the rate before implementation (12%, p<0.0001). CONCLUSION: These changes in staff smoking rates indicate the effectiveness of a comprehensive change-management approach to implementing smoke-free workplace policy.