Abstract
(1) Background: To explore the function of smoking in Aboriginal women’s lives from a trauma-informed, women-centred approach in order to inform the design of a culturally meaningful smoking cessation program for women living in the Pilbara, Western Australia; (2) Methods: Qualitative and Community Based Participatory Action Research (CBPAR) was used to discover what Aboriginal women know about smoking, the specific contextual issues that influence their smoking, and what community supports are available to help them quit smoking. Inductive analysis was used to determine key themes; (3) Results: 25 Aboriginal women (smokers, non-smokers, and ex-smokers) participated in focus groups or individual interviews. Women smoked to deal with stress, trauma and for maintaining social connections. Women who stopped smoking did so on their own when the reason was important enough or when they saw alternative ways of living. Creating safe places to bring women together to yarn about women’s business and link with health services was identified as critical to support women to stop smoking. Conclusions: Strategies to address smoking need to bring community, culture and health together in a meaningful way for women and their families; build on existing community strengths; and educate communities about the effects of smoking, and health professionals about how to support women to stop smoking.
Highlights
In 2013, 56% of Aboriginal women in the Pilbara, Western Australia (WA) reported smoking during pregnancy compared with 10% of non-Aboriginal women [1]
This paper reports on the findings for the first aim of the project, which was to explore the function of smoking in Aboriginal women’s lives and the specific contextual issues that influence their smoking, and use this information to inform the design of a women-centred, trauma-informed culturally meaningful program of work to support women living in the Hedland and Western Desert communities in the Pilbara region of WA to reduce their smoking
The second theme related to stories about quitting and the third theme centred around what women wanted to be able to quit smoking
Summary
In 2013, 56% of Aboriginal women in the Pilbara, Western Australia (WA) reported smoking during pregnancy compared with 10% of non-Aboriginal women [1]. As well as the well-known adverse health effects of smoking on women’s health, smoking tobacco during pregnancy is associated with poor birth outcomes, including low birth weight, premature birth and perinatal death [2]. While there is recognition that Aboriginal women experience a range of adverse events including socioeconomic inequality and the ongoing traumatic effects of colonization, racism and the stolen generations [3,4], few studies have sought to address these factors when designing smoking cessation programs for young pregnant women and women of child bearing age. Few studies have considered the intersectionality of gender, trauma and culture in relation to Aboriginal women’s everyday lives [5]
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