Nicotine is a highly addictive substance found in tobacco products. Smoking nicotine increases your chance of developing heart disease, lung cancer, strokes and a host of other health concerns. But smoking doesn’t just harm your own body. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 2,500,000 nonsmokers have died from secondhand smoke in the United States. In fact, there are about 34,000 heart disease deaths and 7,300 lung cancer deaths due to secondhand smoke each year.
Quitting smoking isn’t easy, but the benefits of living tobacco-free are worth it! Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD) offers smoking cessation classes to help kick the nicotine habit. In addition, FHCSD often partners with local organizations that offer similar wellness programs.
The following is a guest post written by Catholic Charities, Diocese of San Diego about a program that helps protect loved ones from secondhand smoke.
“Our Homes, Our Lives, Our Health: Protecting Our Families and Friends from In-Home Smoking and Secondhand Smoke Exposure”
Do you want to create a healthier home by eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke? If so, the Smoke-Free For All San Diegans Project at Catholic Charities, Diocese of San Diego is reaching out to the community to recruit interested households who would like to make their indoor home environment tobacco-free by voluntarily adopting a pledge to prohibit smoking. Smoke-Free For All San Diegans is a program grant funded by the California Department of Public Health, California Tobacco Control Program under contract #15-10229 for the years 2015 to 2020. Our advocacy for smoke-free indoor home environments is modeled after a pilot project developed by Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, called the Minimal Smoke-Free Homes Intervention. Enrollment in the Smoke-Free Homes Intervention is voluntary and participants will be provided with incentives for their time.
Families who permit smoking inside the home put themselves, their children, other family members and friends at greater risk of developing serious illnesses such as lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema from consistent exposure to secondhand smoke. Smoking inside the family home also creates other problems. Household smoking stains the walls, carpets and floors. Secondhand smoke travels to neighboring units in an apartment or condo complex exposing our neighbors, and can sicken family pets such as cats and dogs who are susceptible to developing some of the same illnesses human beings develop if exposed to tobacco smoke.
It is never too late to act in the name of good health. Smoke-Free For All San Diegans project seeks to identify adult members of the household ages 18 and up who are interested in making their indoor home environment completely smoke-free, as long as smoking is currently taking place inside their home. Participants are also asked to meet the following criteria to partake in this campaign:
- Read and understand basic English
- Reside in a multi-family dwelling such as apartment or condo unit, in a single-family detached home, a mobile home or boat
- Be a nonsmoker living with a smoker(s) who smokes inside the home “or”
- Be a smoker living with at least one other person in the home
Persons interested in this intervention will be asked to complete an initial baseline survey to access smoking behavior and quit attempts (if any) at the time of enrollment. Thereafter, three sets of educational materials will be mailed to the participant’s home address, and our staff will conduct a brief coaching call after the first mailing of educational materials to the participant’s home. At the end of three months, the Smoke-Free For All San Diegans team will conduct a follow-up survey with the participant to access if a smoke-free indoor home environment and pledge was adopted, and smokers interested in quitting will be referred to local smoking cessation services. Catholic Charities, Smoke-Free For All San Diegans Project will gladly answer any questions about this special program. Please contact us at (619) 287-9454 with your inquiries.
This article was made possible by funds received from the California Department of Public Health, tobacco control section under contract #15-10229.
To register for FHCSD’s smoking cessation class or for more information on quitting smoking, please call (619) 515-2526.
