2 research outputs found
Bridging the gap: challenging attitudes towards smoking in pregnancy among healthcare professionals
Background
Clean Air for Babies is
a Global Bridges project to reduce smoking in pregnancy in a healthcare
organization, 'Meuhedet', with 1.2M
members. One aim is empowering health professionals to provide brief smoking
cessation interventions. In this study we assessed the effectiveness of an
education program for nurses and ultrasound technicians.
Methods
The program consists of
8 hours, and includes smoking and ETS effects during pregnancy, practical tools
and behavioral interventions. Evaluation includes before and after questionnaires
based on Global Bridges tools, and focus groups. We are at the initial stage of
analysis. We will conduct another round of questionnaires 3 months post
intervention.
Results
We conducted 6 courses for 120 maternal health nurses and 60
technicians. Qualitative analysis demonstrates ambivalence regarding ability to
intervene (āThis will damage the therapeutic spaceā) and identification with
smokers (āI have seen how difficult it is to stop, my husband became
unbearable.ā). A second theme was hesitance in approaching Muslim or Jewish-Orthodox
spouses due to gender-based hierarchies in the cultural context (āIn our
culture it is hard for the women to tell a man what to doā¦"). A common
theme among technicians was insecurity regarding their role in smoking
cessation.
We completed analysis of 29 nursesĀ“ questionnaires
pre and immediately post intervention. Using paired-t-test analysis we found a
significant improvement in the level of knowledge (mean knowledge items 3.27 to
4.38 on a scale of 5, p< 0.001). No difference was found in self efficacy or
reported behavior.
Conclusions
Initial results indicate
that it is possible to identify specific barriers among caregivers that create
resistance to smoking cessation interventions. Addressing them creates an
opportunity for real organizational change. The improvement in knowledge is
indicative of the appropriateness of the training sessions. We expect that improvement
in self efficacy and reported behavior at the 3 month evaluation