Tobacco Use in Brockton, Massachusetts Presentation

Tobacco Use in Brockton, Massachusetts

• Tobacco use causes various health complications.
• In the U.S., 400,000 people die annually from tobacco associated ailments.
• More African-American men than White men are affected (Jones et al., 2010).
• Healthy people 2020 intends to minimize these deaths by minimizing tobacco use.
• Therefore, it is necessary to establish population-based approaches to minimize the use of tobacco among African-Americans.

Statistics of Tobacco Use in Brockton

• 18 % of total population comprises smokers.
• 22.6% of smokers are males while 15.4% are females (Smoking report for the Greater Brockton CHNA, n.d.).
• White Non-Hispanics – 16%.
• Black Non-Hispanics account for 31%.
• 28% are high school graduates while 12.5% have college certificates.
• Most tobacco-related deaths are caused by complications in the respiratory system.
• Middle-level earners (25,000 to 49,999 dollars annually) – largest group of smokers.
• Low-level earners (below 25,000 dollars annually) – the second largest group.
• High income earners (above 50,000 dollars) – the smallest fraction of smokers (11%).
• 25 to 44 years (19%); 45 to 64 years (18.2%).
• Pregnant White Non-Hispanic women form the largest group with 161 smokers followed by Black Non-Hispanic with 33 and Hispanic with 15 smokers.

Health Effects of Tobacco Use

• Tobacco has over 4,000 chemicals e.g. nicotine, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, toluidine etc.
• Tobacco causes various cancers e.g. lung, larynx and oral cancers (Lewis, 2008, p. 193).
• Heart ailments, stroke, male and female reproductive illnesses, and complications of the lungs also arise.
• Expectant mothers give birth to babies with low birth weight or may have miscarriages.

Secondhand Smoke (SHS) and Smokeless Tobacco

• SHS comes from the remnants of burning tobacco or smoke exhaled by a smoker.
• SHS has more toxic components than inhaled smoke because it burns at high temperatures.
• SHS causes more harm because of small fragments that stay in the air for long periods.
• Smokeless tobacco includes hookah (shisha), and chewing tobacco.
• Using smokeless tobacco is as harmful as smoking.

Effects of SHS

• SHS destroys blood vessels hence diminished coronary blood flow.
• Aggravates the symptoms of asthma by narrowing the air passages.
• Raises cancer of the lung risk by about 30 %.
• SHS causes sudden infant death syndrome in children whose parents are smokers.
• Leads to infections of the middle ear in children.

Current Interventions on Tobacco Use

• The government provides funds to help with smoking cessation.
• Services offered include behavioral assistance, counseling, online sources and self-help resources (Sadler, 2012).
• Information is conveyed through telephone conversations, in person or using focus group discussions.
• Medications that help in quitting of smoking include bupropion, varenicline, and NRT (Sadler, 2012).

Community Interventions

• Implementation of smoking bans.
• Enlightening the masses on the dangers of tobacco use and the availability of treatment programs.
• Impeding the minors’ right to use tobacco.
• Minimizing contact with secondhand smoke.
• Establishing telephone support lines designed for smoking termination.
• Undergoing brief counseling sessions at the local pharmacies.
• Smokers ought to attend counseling sessions as groups as it yields high rates of success.
• Creating public awareness on the availability of smoking cessation services.
• Minimizing contact with secondhand smoke.

Smoking Cessation Agencies in Brockton

• Public health nurses and social workers counsel smokers and refer them to community-based organizations such as QuitWorks and MassHealth Tobacco Cessation Benefit.
• The MassHealth Tobacco Cessation Benefit provides resources that facilitate smoking cessation.
• QuitWorks has helped about 600 smokers between 2004 and 2009.
• The program (QuitWorks) has helplines for assistance in smoking cessation.

Nursing Interventions

• Primary interventions are procedures that prevent disease occurrence e.g. nurses educate the masses on the dangers of tobacco use.
• Secondary interventions include frequent screening for smoking-related illnesses and counseling smokers during hospitalization.
• Tertiary interventions entail the management of the negative effects of tobacco use such as cardiovascular disease and lung ailments.

Conclusion

• Nurses ought to work in partnership with community-based organizations towards tobacco control endeavors.
• In Brockton, women need to learn the dangers of smoking to prevent harming their children.
• This will help realize the objective of healthy people 2020 of reducing deaths related to tobacco use.

References

Jones, P. R., Waters, C. M., Oka, R. K., & McGhee, E. M. (2010). Increasing community capacity to reduce tobacco related disparities in African American communities. Public Health Nursing, 27(6), 552-560.

Lewis, P. C. (2008). Tobacco: What is it and why do people continue to use it? Medsurg Nursing, 17(3), 193-201.

Sadler, E. (2012). Smoking, related diseases and the Government’s tobacco control strategy. Journal of Community Nursing, 26(4), 26-28.

Smoking report for the Greater Brockton CHNA. (n.d.). Web.