A rapid appraisal method for reviewing the effectiveness of workplace smoking policies in large and medium sized organisations

Abstract

Workplace smoking policies have been developed in response to growing scientific evidence about the harmful effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), increasing opposition from non-smokers, concern over escalating costs of health damage and productivity losses, and the emergence of relevant laws and codes of good practice. Much has been written on the development and implementation of workplace smoking policies, but little about their evaluation. This paper describes a rapid appraisal method for the evaluation of workplace smoking policies. The four-stage process involves rapid, focused consultation with policy makers in the workplace, appropriate risk assessment, rapid consultation with those affected by the policy and focused feedback of results for planning and ongoing monitoring. In the pilot site the existing health and safety committee members were effective informants for the identification of key issues in smoking policy. The risk assessment phase was incorporated into the main appraisal which involved a canvass of staff and others on ETS issues identified by the informants. In the final stage of the process the health and safety committee proved to be both responsive to identified need, and proactive in facilitating ongoing review of the smoking policy. It therefore proved possible to develop the rapid appraisal process for administration in a limited time frame, three months for the whole process, with the rapid canvass element being achieved within one week.

Using qualitative mixed methods to study small health care organizations while maximising trustworthiness and authenticity

“…REAM is an umbrella term that offers little detail about the processes involved in implementing a rapid appraisal approach, particularly using qualitative mixed methods. The epistemological underpinnings of REAM range from realist, objectivist epistemology (as in studies used to provide quick assessments of program performance [ 13 ]) to constructionism (in studies used to assess the impacts of policy [ 14 ] or roles [ 15 ]). The epistemological diversity of these studies reflects an under-theorization of methodology in this research area.…”

Measuring tobacco smoke exposure: quantifying nicotine/cotinine concentration in biological samples by colorimetry, chromatography and immunoassay methods

“…A large body of evidence indicates that tobacco smoking has unfavorable consequences on human health [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Chronic smokers run the risk of lung cancer [2,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17], respiratory infections [18,19], heart disease [2,[20][21][22], and pregnancy complications [23,24] caused by inhalation of nicotine, the principal component of tobacco.…”