Tackling smoking in drug and alcohol treatment centres
Smoking rates among people entering drug and alcohol treatments centres are five times higher than the rest of the population. The Tackling Nicotine Together trial is now integrating tobacco treatment with routine care across these clinics to help reduce smoking rates.
Background
In Australia, 77%–95% of people entering drug and alcohol treatment centres smoke tobacco – this rate is five times higher than that of the general adult population. As a result, they experience a higher level of tobacco-related illnesses.
Surveys show despite these high smoking rates, clients treated for substance use are often very interested in quitting smoking and are successful in doing so when given support. However, tobacco smoking is rarely addressed in drug and alcohol treatment. This represents an opportunity to successfully integrate tobacco treatment into routine care at drug and alcohol clinics.
The research
- Cancer Council NSW’s Tackling Tobacco program is interested in implementing organisational change in not-for-profit community organisations.
- The Tackling Nicotine Together trial is a partnership which brings together the Tackling Tobacco program with the research and expertise of Professor Billie Bonevski and her team from the University of Newcastle.
- The trial is testing whether an intervention to help people stop smoking is effective in 32 drug and alcohol treatment centres in NSW, ACT, Queensland and South Australia.
- This intervention consists of several components, which provide information about the best ways for the treatment centres to help clients who
want to quit smoking.
The impact
The Tackling Nicotine Together trial has been implemented across 32 drug and alcohol treatment centres, including 10 non-government services in NSW. To assess the effectiveness of the intervention, staff at the centres have been invited to participate in an online survey of current attitudes and practices toward tobacco policy and smoking cessation care. Tackling Nicotine Together has also recruited a total of 900 clients from the participating centres, and these clients have been followed up at six weeks and six months after the intervention concluded. Analysis of the findings is currently underway and final results are expected in mid-2017.
It is anticipated that this trial will provide evidence for why drug and alcohol treatment centres should do more to address smoking among their clients. Ultimately, this trial will help inform policy and practice changes on how to help make smoking cessation a standard of care for people entering drug and alcohol centres.
Research team
Professor Billie Bonevski – University of Newcastle
Professor Anthony Shakeshaft – University of New South Wales
Professor Michael Farrell – University of New South Wales
Dr Flora Tzelepis – University of Newcastle
Mr Scott Walsberger – Cancer Council NSW