Abstract
BackgroundSocial and community service organisations (SCSOs) are non-government, not-for-profit organisations that provide welfare services to disadvantaged individuals. SCSOs hold considerable potential for providing smoking cessation support to disadvantaged smokers. This study aimed to establish the prevalence of smoking, interest in quitting and interest in receiving cessation support amongst clients accessing SCSOs.MethodsClients seeking financial or material assistance from three SCSOs in NSW, Australia, between February and October 2010 were invited to complete a 60-item general health touch screen computer survey. This included questions about smoking status, past quit attempts and interest in receiving support to quit smoking from SCSO staff.ResultsA total of 552 clients were approached to participate during the study period, of which 383 provided consent and completed the survey (69% consent rate). Daily smoking was reported by 53.5% of participants. Occasional smoking (non-daily smoking) was reported by a further 7.9% of participants. Most participants had tried to quit smoking in the past (77%) and had made an average of two quit attempts (SD = 3.2) lasting longer than 24 hours in the previous 12 months. More than half of all participants (52.8%) reported that they would like help from SCSO staff to quit smoking. For those interested in receiving help, the preferred types of help were access to free NRT (77%), cash rewards (52%) and non-cash rewards (47%) for quitting, and to receive support and encouragement from SCSO staff to quit (45%).ConclusionsSmoking rates among clients accessing SCSO are substantially higher than the general population rate of 15.1%. A substantial proportion of clients are interested in quitting and want support from the SCSO to do so.
Highlights
Social and community service organisations (SCSOs) are non-government, not-for-profit organisations that provide welfare services to disadvantaged individuals
While SCSO appear to be a promising setting for targeting disadvantaged smokers, no data exists to describe the prevalence of smoking and interest in quitting among clients attending SCSOs in order to make judgements about the potential reach of this approach
The rate of current daily smoking at 53.5% was more than three times higher than the Australian population rate of 15.1% [15], and comparable to that documented in other severely disadvantaged groups such as those attending a psychiatric rehabilitation support service [16]
Summary
Social and community service organisations (SCSOs) are non-government, not-for-profit organisations that provide welfare services to disadvantaged individuals. SCSOs are non-government, not-for-profit organisations that provide welfare services including financial and family counselling, temporary accommodation, food and material aid, and child and family support. They have existing contact with a large number of disadvantaged groups including the homeless, individuals with a mental illness, the unemployed and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders [7], and are uniquely placed to provide smoking cessation support to disadvantaged smokers; they are able to address smoking in a holistic way alongside other issues faced by their clients, can provide personalised ongoing support, and have demonstrated growing interest in this opportunity via participation in programs such as the Cancer Council NSW’s Tackling Tobacco initiative (see http://www.cancercouncil.com.au/editorial.asp?pageid=2210). While SCSO appear to be a promising setting for targeting disadvantaged smokers, no data exists to describe the prevalence of smoking and interest in quitting among clients attending SCSOs in order to make judgements about the potential reach of this approach
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
