Biomedical subjects

T L Conway

Publications and source records attributed to T L Conway.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

PubMedDate not supplied

Tobacco use prevention and cessation programs in the U.S. Navy.

A representative sample of 406 U.S. Navy commands, including all medical treatment facilities, was surveyed in 1990 about their activities and programs to prevent the use of tobacco and promote smoking cessation during the preceding year. The vast majority of Navy commands (86 percent) provided some type of tobacco cessation educational materials or programs. However, the most common activities typically were rated as only "somewhat useful" in helping to curb tobacco use. Almost one-half of all commands offered psychological or behavioral cessation programs. Survey respondents estimated that approximately one-third of those persons who attended such a program stopped their tobacco use and nearly one-half reduced their tobacco use as a result of the program. Over-the-counter smoking cessation aids were not widely available at Navy exchange stores, individual commands, or medical treatment facilities. Furthermore, only 61 percent of all commands reported that they had a written policy or instruction regarding tobacco use. Only about one-third of medical treatment facilities had a routine system for identifying tobacco users by glancing at their medical records. However, it was estimated that 80 percent of medical treatment facility physicians routinely asked their patients about their tobacco use. The authors discuss the need for a more active Navy approach in prevention and cessation efforts and a routine system for identifying tobacco users from their medical records. In addition, inequities in cessation efforts were found among command subgroups.

Health Promotion↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effect of a brief retailer intervention to reduce the sale of single cigarettes.

A surprising finding from the present study was the occasional retailer practice of giving singles away upon confederates' requests to purchase singles. This practice was not expected, and additional data related to its occurrence (i.e., under what circumstances it occurred) were not collected. Although the prevalence of giving away singles was not high (approximately 6% of stores at pretest and 3% at posttest), the practice raises concern in that it may greatly facilitate experimental smoking and undermine cessation attempts. Availability (i.e., sales and giving) of single cigarettes dropped significantly during the four-month period of this study (34% to 10%), suggesting that a brief educational intervention followed by a "booster" mailing of materials effectively reduced single cigarette availability. The overall reduction in availability of singles was also seen for the two store types individually. It is noteworthy, however, that at both assessments, liquor stores were more likely than independent markets to have singles available. The finding that location of singles changed from on top of and behind the counter to exclusively behind the counter indicated that retailers may have become aware that providing singles is illegal, and made attempts to be less obvious about their availability. Although the ultimate goal was to completely eliminate the availability of single cigarettes, the change in location may be positive in that impulse buying could be diminished when singles are hidden.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Sustained effects of educating retailers to reduce cigarette sales to minors.

Despite state laws prohibiting the purchase of tobacco by minors, the ease with which underage youth can purchase cigarettes has been documented nationwide. The public health community as well as policy makers have called for a combination of retailer education and enforcement of laws prohibiting tobacco sales to minors. Enforcement activity may not be feasible in many communities, however, and an educational intervention may be the only option. This paper reports results of a 6-month followup assessment following a face-to-face education intervention with retailers to reduce cigarettes sales to minors in San Diego County, CA. A control-experimental group, pre-post design was employed to study the sustained effects of the program on the illegal sale of cigarettes to minors. A total of 236 stores were visited by minors, ages 14-17 years, with the intent of purchasing cigarettes. Information was collected three times: pre-test, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after the intervention ended. The groups included a no-treatment control group of 108 stores and an intervention group of 128 that received three educational visits from project staff over a 1-year period. Community education via media and informational presentations was also conducted. As previously reported, a 68-percent pretest sales rate was found for stores overall. Immediately following the intervention, 32 percent of the intervention group and 59 percent of the control group sold cigarettes to minors. These results were maintained 6 months following the conclusion of the intervention. Results are discussed in terms of education versus use of enforcement.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Independent evaluation of the California Tobacco Education Program.

OBJECTIVE: To monitor the implementation of tobacco control programs and research in accordance with California's Proposition 99, approved by the voters in 1988, which increased the state's cigarette tax by 25 cents and designated one quarter of the increased revenue-approximately $100 million per year-to develop statewide media campaigns and to fund local health departments, community-based organizations, schools, and agencies working with high risk populations. METHODS: The authors evaluated the extent and the effectiveness of the implementation independently with standardized forms developed to track any tobacco-related information and activities, local media campaigns, changes in local policies and ordinances, training sessions, and prevention and cessation programs. Activities were reported on the forms to the authors monthly or quarterly. RESULTS: The evaluation indicated that local health departments, community-based organizations, and other group produced an exceedingly high volume of diverse tobacco control activities throughout the state. They reached a variety of ethnic groups and high risk populations with their programs. The data also show that local health departments and competitive grantees responded with an overall shift in their approach to tobacco control and moved from interventions focused primarily on individual people to broader, more community- and environment-oriented interventions. Additionally, analysis of the wholesale tobacco tax revenues revealed that per capita purchasing continued to decline in California at a rate greater than in the rest of the United States. CONCLUSION: The evaluation demonstrated that Proposition 99 accomplished much of what it set out to do-reducing tobacco prevalence, reaching out to underserved populations, and heightening the awareness of the dangers of environmental tobacco smoke.

Adolescent↗