Social Workers Can Target Support

The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction states:

• Research shows smoking disproportionately affects the vulnerable and marginalised populations with whom social workers are likely to work;
• Before the emergence of safer nicotine products, few people were able to use nicotine without also smoking tobacco, causing significant damage to their health;
• Social workers should inform clients about tobacco harm reduction as part of smoking cessation efforts which could improve people’s health and save many lives.

GSTHR note that while social worker roles differ around the world, “they often serve as the initial, and in some cases only, point of contact with a number of marginalised communities. These professionals can have a significant influence over people’s overall wellbeing.”

The organisation says that its report’s findings mean that social workers could play an important role in reducing the prevalence of smoking.

The organisation says: “Tobacco harm reduction is a potentially life-saving intervention for millions of people across the world. To those who currently use high-risk tobacco products, like cigarettes and some oral tobaccos, it offers the chance to switch to a range of safer nicotine products that pose fewer risks to their health. These include nicotine vapes (e-cigarettes), snus, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches.

“The Briefing Paper, which will be available in 13 languages, explores how, in countries where they are affordable and available, switching from smoking to the use of safer nicotine products could have dramatic positive effects for those supported by social workers. In 2021, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), two-thirds of people with severe mental health conditions were people who smoked and in those experiencing schizophrenia rates can reach as high as 70-80%. People who use illicit drugs are also three times more likely to smoke cigarettes compared to non-users. One study in California found that smoking-related conditions comprised around 40% of total deaths among people hospitalised with cocaine, opioid and methamphetamine disorders.”

GSTHR says that people smoke for a variety of reasons even though they know it is bad for them.

“While many experience pleasure from using nicotine, just as people enjoy using caffeine or alcohol, others use it to cope with sadness, boredom or the stresses of their daily lives. For some people with schizophrenia, using nicotine can be a form of self-medication, which they feel allows them to treat cognitive symptoms or reduce the side effects of psychiatric medicines. Unfortunately, until the emergence of safer nicotine products, few people were able to use nicotine without also smoking tobacco, causing significant damage to their health. Quitting smoking completely is the most beneficial outcome for health. But for those who cannot or do not want to quit, tobacco harm reduction provides a choice of safer alternatives for nicotine intake, without exposure to the thousands of toxic chemical compounds present in cigarette smoke.”

David MacKintosh, Director of K·A·C, which runs the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction project, commented: “Social workers around the world regularly work with individuals who are more likely than the general population to smoke, for example people experiencing mental health and substance use issues. However, few countries train social workers to support those who want to quit smoking.

“This is a missed opportunity for both individuals in need and the public health system. Equipping social workers with the tools to provide trusted information and advice on tobacco harm reduction options would benefit their clients, as well as their families and communities. It would save lives. The potential is massive, especially in countries where smoking cessation services are rare, non-existent or expensive to access.”

Knowledge·Action·Change (K·A·C) promotes harm reduction as a key public health strategy grounded in human rights. The team has decades of experience of harm reduction work in drug use, HIV, smoking, sexual health, and prisons. K·A·C runs the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (GSTHR) which maps the development of tobacco harm reduction and the use, availability and regulatory responses to safer nicotine products, as well as smoking prevalence and related mortality, in over 200 countries and regions around the world.

GSTHR states: “The GSTHR project is produced with the help of a grant from Global Action to End Smoking (formerly known as Foundation for a Smoke-Free World), an independent, US nonprofit 501(c)(3) grant-making organisation, accelerating science-based efforts worldwide to end the smoking epidemic. Global Action played no role in designing, implementing, data analysis, or interpretation of this Briefing Paper. The contents, selection, and presentation of facts, as well as any opinions expressed, are the sole responsibility of the authors and should not be regarded as reflecting the positions of Global Action to End Smoking.”

References:

• Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction - https://gsthr.org/
• Briefing Paper - https://gsthr.org/resources/briefing-papers/smoking-and-vulnerable-populations-supporting-smoking-cessation-and-tobacco-harm-reduction-in-social-work/

Photo Credit:

• Photo by Maria Remez on Unsplash

Dave Cross

Journalist at POTV

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Dave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.