Impact of smoke-free hospitals policy on smoking

The Foundation's Tobacco Policy Research and Evaluation Program was designed to provide support for research and evaluation projects that will produce policy relevant information about ways to reduce tobacco use in the U.S., especially among children and youth.The purpose of this project is to take advantage of an industry wide ban on smoking. The Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), which accredits most American hospitals, has enacted a standard that prohibits smoking in hospitals. To comply, institutions must be smoke-free by December 31, 1993. Because hospitals have the only industry wide ban, the national study of hospitals and employees will make use of this natural experiment. This study has the following goals: (1) to determine the extent to which hospitals comply with the smoking policy standards of the JCAHO; (2) to determine the prevalence and comprehensiveness of restrictive smoking policies in U.S. hospitals; (3) to determine the impact of the implementation of workplace smoking restrictions on changes in smoking behavior within and outside the workplace; and (4) to determine if there are differences in the stages of smoking cessation between smokers in smoke-free workplaces and smokers whose workplaces are not smoke-free. The study consists of 3 phases. Phase One is an analysis of JCAHO data, Phase Two examines the content of smoking policies, and Phase Three assesses the effect of the hospital-based smoking ban on the smoking behavior of employees.

Grant Details

Amount Awarded $349,995.00

Awarded on: 8/27/1993

Time frame: 9/1/1993 - 10/31/1996

Grant Number: 22931