Involuntary Exposure Protecting Children from Secondhand Smoke

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Involuntary Exposure Protecting Children from
Secondhand Smoke

• Childcare Provider Training

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Training Objectives

• To provide caregivers with knowledge and
  confidence to begin conversations with parents
  about the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.
• To enforce a No Smoking Policy in air shared by
  children at any time in any place.
• To acquaint you with a number of free resources
  available to Colorado caregivers and to parents
  interested in reducing their childs exposure or
  quitting smoking.

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THE FACTS

• Tobacco accounts for more deaths than AIDS,
  fires, car accidents, heroin, homicide, suicide,
  cocaine and alcohol, combined.

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Tobacco Related Deaths in Colorado
Tobacco Total4,616
All Others Total3,130
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What is Secondhand Smoke?

• Group A carcinogen
• There is NO SAFE LEVEL of
• second-hand smoke.
• SHS is a mix of more than 4,000 compounds, over
  60 of which are known to cause cancer.
• Sidestream smoke and mainstream smoke
• Sidestream smoke contains higher concentrations
  of toxic elements.

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Why Focus on Children?

• Children are particularly susceptible to health
  risks from SHS.
• Weakened lung growth, respiratory distress,
  increased incidence of ear infection, shortness
  of breath, exacerbation of asthma, increased risk
  of SIDS
• Childrens exposure is involuntary.

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Home and Car Exposure

• Smoke-filled rooms may have up to six times the
  air pollution as a busy highway.
• Smoking in a confined space (e.g. car) is 23
  times more toxic than smoking in a house.
• It takes more than 3 hours to remove 95 of smoke
  from one cigarette from the room.

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Asthma and SHS

• Higher risk of developing asthma.
• More frequent and severe asthma attacks.
• Estimated 11 of all asthma cases and more than
  half a million physician visits for asthma are
  due to smoking in the home.

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The Reality

• Despite these significant health effects,
  approximately one half of the children in the US
  under the age of 5 are exposed to tobacco smoke,
  with exposure beginning before birth for nearly
  one quarter of them.

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MythsWhere does Smoke Go?

• DISTANCE MYTH
• VENTILATION MYTH
• ODOR MYTH
• ALL-OR-NOTHING MYTH

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DISTANCE MYTH

• What is a safe distance?
• How far away is far enough?
• THE TRUTH In a home or in a car, there is no
  safe distance between children and secondhand
  smoke

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VENTILATION MYTH

• Is air safer to breathe if a fan is on?
• Is air safer to breathe if a window is open?
• THE TRUTH Ventilating the air does not remove
  secondhand smoke and does not protect children.

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ODOR MYTH

• If you cant smell secondhand smoke in the air,
  is it gone?
• When you can no longer smell the smoke does that
  mean that the dangerous chemicals are gone?
• THE TRUTH Removing secondhand smokes odor from
  the air cant remove secondhand smokes chemicals
  from the air.

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ALL-OR-NOTHING MYTH

• Does a parent have to quit smoking entirely to be
  able to protect their children and keep the air
  in their home and car safe to breathe?
• THE TRUTH Parents dont have to quit smoking
  right away to start protecting their children
  right away.

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How Comfortable are You?
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Receptivity of the Message

• 85 of Colorado smokers report wanting to quit.
• 70 of smokers with kids are receptive to the
  smoke outside message.
• Smokers who believe SHS is harmful and take
  action make more progress towards quitting.

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The One Step

• STEP OUTSIDE

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The One Step

• How do you make a difference?
• Communicate
• Educate
• Encourage

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COMMUNICATE

• Your voice can create change
• Be child focused
• Be confident
• Be a conversation starter
• Be positive
• Be sensitive
• Be a friend, not a salesperson
• Be understanding
• Be helpful

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ENCOURAGE

• Use positive language
• Offer tips to help them get started on making
  their homes and cars smoke-free for children
• Follow up and see how theyre doing and offer
  more encouragement
• Empathize

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EDUCATE PARENTS

• Ensure a smoke-free environment while the
  children are in your care.
• Educate parents about the health risks from
  secondhand smoke in the home and car.
• Educate children about the risks of secondhand
  smoke.

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EDUCATE PARENTS

• At time of enrollment
• Provide information about the schools policy to
  be smoke-free.
• Discuss health effects of secondhand smoke.
• Include written materials in orientation packet
  on secondhand smoke and quitting resources.

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EDUCATE PARENTS

• Display the One Step posters and take away
  cards (see the materials section of the binder)
  in an area of your facility where parents will
  notice them
• Reprint the parent education articles weve
  provided and insert them into a newsletter or a
  parent folder that will be read by parents.
• Send SHS related educational activities home with
  children.
• Host parent education classes at your childcare
  facility to address the issue of SHS and Children

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EDUCATE CHILDREN

• Involving children in educational activities can
• Help them understand they can leave a room when
  someone is smoking.
• Tell an adult that smoke bothers them.
• Tell a smoker how smoke makes them feel.
• Share SHS information/facts learned in school
  with adults who smoke

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You Can Make a Difference

• Person-to-person contact is consistently
  effective.
• Brief tobacco interventions are effective.
• Childcare providers are in a unique position to
  reach tobacco users.
• What you say does matter!

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Ensure a smoke-free environment

• Have a written smoke-free policy
• Make all areas of the childcare center smoke-free
  at all times.
• All school grounds smoke-free.
• Vehicles that transport children smoke free at
  all times.
• No smoking by staff or volunteers staff and
  volunteers serve as role models.

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Ensure a smoke-free environment

• Let parents know of the smoke-free policy and ask
  that they abide by same rules.
• Train all staff and volunteers on the policy.
• Post smoke-free signs and messages.
• www.rmc.org

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What Messages Motivate?

• Kids health 1 motivational message
• Logic and facts are not enough
• Use health implications carefully
• Provide choices
• Overall, soft sell works best
• Acknowledge the difficulty of quitting

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SHS Prevention Goal

• Set-up systems to identify childrens exposure to
  SHS .
• Provide at least a brief intervention.
• Identify and deliver the appropriate
  message/intervention.
• Provide on-going education and information.

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The 2 As and an R
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Messages for Parents Not Ready to Quit

• It is so important that you reduce your childs
  exposure to secondhand smoke.
• Breathing SHS can be harmful to your childs
  health, you can protect her by making her
  environment smoke-free.
• Children who breathe SHS are more likely to have
  more(personalize) asthma attacks, ear
  infections, wheezing, coughing
• Acknowledge the positive!

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Engage Parent in Discussion

• What are your thoughts about the relationship
  between your smoking and your sons asthma
  attacks?
• What kinds of things can you do to reduce his
  exposure to SHS?
• What problems will you have in creating a smoke
  free household?
• Where can you smoke outside?

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Helping Parents Take Action

• Encourage them to set a smoke-free home and car
  policy.
• Ask them not to smoke around their children or to
  allow others to smoke around their children.
• If they must smoke, smoke outside. Smoking in
  another room or opening a window is not enough.

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Barriers to SHS Reduction

• Leaving children unattended
• Outside environment may not be safe, too cold,
  unpleasant to go outside
• No time, especially during childcare
• Others in the household smoke
• Other barriers

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Smoke-Free Home Pledge

• Motivational tool to help parents make their
  families environment smoke-free.
• Can easily conduct in the childcare center and
  can involve both parents and children.
• Master copies available in packet.

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Cessation Services 1-800-QUIT-NOW

• Free telephone service for all Coloradoans.
• Provides a customized quit plan including
  individual counseling, relapse prevention,
  scheduled calls from counselors, information on
  medications, printed materials.
• Specialized protocols for pregnant women and
  users of spit tobacco.
• Available in English and Spanish

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Colorado QuitNet My Quit Pagewww.co.Quitnet.c
om
My Next Steps
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Free Resources

• Free patient, provider, and employer education
  materials including videos, posters and pamphlets
• Including Quitline and QuitNet promotional
  materials
• Order online www.rmc.org/shop or
  www.steppitems.com
• or call 1-800-251-4772

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Case Studies

• Break into small groups.
• Discuss the case study together.
• Report back to the larger group.

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Conclusion

• Secondhand smoke is a significant health risk to
  children and their exposure is involuntary.
• Your advice to reduce a childs exposure to SHS
  should be clear, strong, and personalized.
• Parents will continue to listen to child care
  provider advice even when they are unprepared to
  act on it.

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Conclusion continued

• Referring smokers to the Quitline and QuitNet
  makes a difference.
• Free materials and resources are available.
• You dont have to be a counselor to make a
  difference!

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For More Information

• Eliza Lanman, Tobacco Program Manager
• American Lung Association
• [phone]
• elanman_at_lungcolorado.org
• Debbie Montgomery, RD,MPH, Secondhand Smoke
  Specialist, STEPP Program
• [phone]
• Debbie.Montgomery_at_state.co.us