Evaluation of the Smoking Cessation and Tobacco Use Exposure Patterns of Head Start Parents in Boston

Parental smoking increases children's risk of asthma, infectious illness, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and other conditions. Accumulating evidence regarding the adverse effects of total smoke exposure (TSE) led the US Surgeon General to conclude that there is no safe level of TSE. Parents who smoke endanger themselves, put their children and spouses at risk for adverse health outcomes, and increase the chance of their children becoming smokers. However, many parents who smoke are undertreated for their tobacco addiction. Many parents who smoke are of the age where they have few contacts with primary care physicians and are often unexposed to counseling and pharmacotherapy offered to older patients. Strategically identifying sites where trained para-professionals routinely interact with parents who smoke is vital to making inroads in this high-risk population.

Involuntary secondhand smoke exposure (SHSe) in domestic environments is an entirely preventable public health threat that disproportionately burdens young children in communities of low socioeconomic position. Research has indicated that interventions to reduce SHSe for children delivered through child care settings have been effective. In addition, client-centered approaches, such as motivational interviewing, have been effective in helping parents to reduce levels of SHS in the home environment. Following guidelines from established agencies and organizations, we will also evaluate changes in smoking cessation rates among parents and staff comparing use prior to and after the training programs and subsequent family service worker to parent encounters.

Aim 1: Building on Action for Boston Community Development's (ABCD) current system efforts, support the development and implementation of system changes to accurately and efficiently document parental smoking and household tobacco use and exposure, using: i) intake form, ii) Individual Family Plan, and iii) electronic data system.

Aim 2: Collaborate with Legacy and University of Massachusetts (UMass) to train Head Start staff in skills for encouraging smoking cessation and on a smoke-free home intervention, to increase staff knowledge of second-hand smoke (SHS) effects and provide skills in Motivational Interviewing. This will enhance staff confidence in engaging with parents to assist in efforts to make a sustained quit attempt, reduce children's SHS exposure, and will provide structure to help staff determine how best to support families on issues of tobacco use, including referral to cessation services.

Aim 3: Evaluate the effectiveness of sites receiving the a) Motivational Interviewing intervention for family service workers, b) supervisor education, and c) boosters in decreasing parent smoking, reducing household tobacco use and children's SHS exposure, compared with sites receiving only basic tobacco information.