TY - JOUR
T1 - Addressing smoking cessation among women in substance use treatment
T2 - A qualitative approach to guiding tailored interventions
AU - Leal, Isabel Martinez
AU - Taing, Matthew
AU - Correa-Fernandez, Virmarie
AU - Obasi, Ezemenari M.
AU - Kyburz, Bryce
AU - Le, Kathy
AU - Koshy, Litty
AU - Chen, Tzuan A.
AU - Williams, Teresa
AU - Casey, Kathleen
AU - O’connor, Daniel P.
AU - Reitzel, Lorraine R.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This work was supported by funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (grant PP170070 to L.R.R.). Writing of this manuscript was supported by funding from the National Cancer Institute (grant P20CA221697 to L.R.R. on which M.T. is supported and its sister grant P20CA221696) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (grant U54MD015946 to E.M.O. on which L.R.R., T.A.C, and I.M.L. are also supported). Conclusions drawn in this work are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsoring organizations.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/6/1
Y1 - 2021/6/1
N2 - Intersecting socially marginalized identities and unique biopsychosocial factors place women with substance use disorders (SUDs) experiencing myriad disadvantages at higher risk for smoking and stigmatization. Here, based on our work with women receiving care for SUDs in four participating treatment/women-serving centers (N = 6 individual clinics), we: (1) describe the functions of smoking for women with SUDs; and (2) explore participants’ experiences of a comprehensive tobacco-free workplace (TFW) program, Taking Texas Tobacco-Free (TTTF), that was implemented during their SUD treatment. Ultimately, information gleaned was intended to inform the development of women-tailored tobacco interventions. Data collection occurred pre-and post-TTTF implementation and entailed conducting client (7) and clinician (5) focus groups. Using thematic analysis, we identified four main themes: “the social context of smoking,” “challenges to finding support and better coping methods,” “addressing underlying conditions: building inner and outer supportive environments,” and “sustaining support: TFW program experiences.” Women reported that: smoking served as a “coping mechanism” for stress and facilitated socialization; stigmatization hindered quitting; non-stigmatizing counseling cessation support provided alternative coping strategies; and, with clinicians, the cessation opportunities TTTF presented are valuable. Clinicians reported organizational support, or lack thereof, and tobacco-related misconceptions as the main facilitator/barriers to treating tobacco addiction. Effective tobacco cessation interventions for women with SUDs should be informed by, and tailored to, their gendered experiences, needs, and recommendations. Participants recommended replacing smoking with healthy stress alleviating strategies; the importance of adopting non-judgmental, supportive, cessation interventions; and the support of TFW programs and nicotine replacement therapy to aid in quitting.
AB - Intersecting socially marginalized identities and unique biopsychosocial factors place women with substance use disorders (SUDs) experiencing myriad disadvantages at higher risk for smoking and stigmatization. Here, based on our work with women receiving care for SUDs in four participating treatment/women-serving centers (N = 6 individual clinics), we: (1) describe the functions of smoking for women with SUDs; and (2) explore participants’ experiences of a comprehensive tobacco-free workplace (TFW) program, Taking Texas Tobacco-Free (TTTF), that was implemented during their SUD treatment. Ultimately, information gleaned was intended to inform the development of women-tailored tobacco interventions. Data collection occurred pre-and post-TTTF implementation and entailed conducting client (7) and clinician (5) focus groups. Using thematic analysis, we identified four main themes: “the social context of smoking,” “challenges to finding support and better coping methods,” “addressing underlying conditions: building inner and outer supportive environments,” and “sustaining support: TFW program experiences.” Women reported that: smoking served as a “coping mechanism” for stress and facilitated socialization; stigmatization hindered quitting; non-stigmatizing counseling cessation support provided alternative coping strategies; and, with clinicians, the cessation opportunities TTTF presented are valuable. Clinicians reported organizational support, or lack thereof, and tobacco-related misconceptions as the main facilitator/barriers to treating tobacco addiction. Effective tobacco cessation interventions for women with SUDs should be informed by, and tailored to, their gendered experiences, needs, and recommendations. Participants recommended replacing smoking with healthy stress alleviating strategies; the importance of adopting non-judgmental, supportive, cessation interventions; and the support of TFW programs and nicotine replacement therapy to aid in quitting.
KW - Health disparities
KW - Intersectionality
KW - Polysubstance use
KW - Tobacco-free workplace
KW - Women-tailored smoking interventions
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U2 - 10.3390/ijerph18115764
DO - 10.3390/ijerph18115764
M3 - Article
C2 - 34072064
AN - SCOPUS:85106634496
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 18
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 11
M1 - 5764
ER -