Reducing Tobacco Exposures Among African American Women and Children

Overview

Secondhand smoke exposure in the home can causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma, respiratory illnesses, and ear infections in children. In addition to cigarette smoke, exposure to other tobacco products can further compromise the safety of children in the home. This study aims to reduce the burden of multiple tobacco exposures, improve access to preventive care, and reduce the disproportionate risk for chronic diseases, including cancer, among African American women and children living in the Arkansas Delta region. Our central hypothesis is that messages delivered by a community health worker that aim to modify knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and subjective norms may influence the perceived threat of tobacco exposures and provide cues for African American women caregivers to implement comprehensive smokefree policies to protect their children from the harms of tobacco and in-turn, influence their quitting.

Cigarette smoking among African American women in Arkansas is nearly double the prevalence for African American women in the United States. Historical trends show increasing lung cancer mortality among African American Arkansan women. Further, secondhand (SHS) exposure is highest among African Americans and persons living in poverty. Declines in SHS exposure are much slower among these groups than their comparative groups. Smokefree policies in the home can reduce SHS exposure and increase quit attempts. To date, few trials have investigated how to increase the adoption and implementation of evidence-based strategies to reduce SHS exposure in the homes of women caregivers in rural disadvantaged communities. Our study will develop and test the feasibility and efficacy of brief motivational counseling and risk-communication messages delivered by community health workers (CHWs) on the implementation of comprehensive smokefree policies (e.g. ban on cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, and safekeeping of tobacco products from children) in the home. The specific aims are to 1) conduct semi-structured interviews among African American women caregivers (WCGs) and CHWs to understand risk perceptions, knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and safety practices related to tobacco products and sociocultural and environmental influences on tobacco use and policy practices; 2) use the interview data to develop, adapt, and pilot test educational materials, motivational counseling, and tobacco exposure feedback using an iterative process of six focus groups of WCGs; and 3) assess the influence of the intervention on the primary outcome, implementation of comprehensive smokefree policies, and secondary outcomes, 7-day point prevalence abstinence and smoking reduction. H3:1 Compared to WCGs in the control group (n = 103), WCGs in the intervention group will be more likely to implement CS policies (n = 103); H3:2. will have higher 7-day point prevalence abstinence and smoke fewer cigarettes per day at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months; and H3:3. their attitudes will mediate the effects of tobacco exposure biofeedback on the outcomes. The data from this study could 1) greatly enhance the adoption of voluntary comprehensive smokefree policies in a state where the strength of state-level tobacco control policies is low and 2) reduce the risk for smoking-attributable mortality, including cancer, among socially disadvantaged women and children.