Smoke-free school policies in Europe: Challenges for the future

Changes of campus tobacco control environment and the impact on tobacco control behaviors among secondary school personnel in Shanghai, China

INTRODUCTION

Youth smoking is a serious public health problem. Nevertheless, a rigorous tobacco-free environment within schools, combined with exemplary tobacco control behavior among school personnel can effectively contribute to reducing adolescent smoking. This study compared the tobacco control environment in Shanghai secondary schools in 2017 and 2021, and explored how the tobacco control environment influenced the tobacco control behaviors of school personnel.

METHODS

Two cross-sectional studies were conducted from October to December 2017 and October to December 2021, using stratified cluster random sampling method, and 2403 and 1761 valid questionnaires were collected, respectively. The chi-squared test was used to test the differences between categorical variables. Binary logistic regression was conducted using survey data from 2021 to explore the influencing factors of staff's tobacco control behaviors.

RESULTS

Compared with 2017, the percentages of staff members who were current smokers, had smoked on campus in the past year and were exposed to secondhand smoke (SHS) on campus in the past 7 days in 2021 decreased by 2.95%, 2.30% and 8.91%, respectively. However, the proportion of personnel who knew the school had organized tobacco control education decreased. Furthermore, school personnel who had received tobacco control education and agreed the school should strictly prohibit students from smoking (AOR=1.64; 95% CI: 1.25-2.15) were more likely to inform about the harm of tobacco to students. Those who had participated in tobacco control education activities or tobacco control trainings (AOR=1.87; 95% CI: 1.30-2.69) and believed that the school did not strictly prohibit either students (AOR=0.30; 95% CI: 0.22-0.41) or personnel (AOR=0.46; 95% CI: 0.36-0.59) from smoking were more inclined to stop students from smoking.

CONCLUSIONS

Compared with 2017, the rates of smoking and secondhand smoke exposure among school personnel decreased in 2021, but some schools still lacked comprehensive education on tobacco control behaviors for the staff. Enhancing the health literacy and strengthening tobacco control education among staff were effective strategies to encouraging their active adoption of tobacco control behaviors.

From a teacher and school leader perspective: What happened with smoking rules and practices during a three-year smoking preventive intervention? - Findings from the X:IT II study

BACKGROUND

School-based smoking preventive interventions are most effective if they consist of multiple components; one of them being strict anti-smoking rules, i.e., no smoking by anyone at any location during school hours. However, there is a lack of in-depth knowledge about how smoking practices and rules about smoking actually change over time. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine how smoking practices changed during a three-year period in which a smoking preventive intervention with strict anti-smoking rules was implemented at schools.

METHODS

We used data from 46 Danish schools that were enrolled in the evaluation of the X:IT II study - a smoking preventive intervention with three main components: one of them being strict anti-smoking rules. We collected questionnaire data among school employees at four timepoints from the autumn of 2017 until April 2020. The questionnaire covered topics regarding students' and employees' tobacco patterns at the school, control with smoking, and aspects of the intervention delivery.

RESULTS

Over time, student smoking rules got stricter; from three out of four at baseline to almost all schools having rules about no student smoking during school hours three years later. Employee smoking rules also changed, although not as much as student rules. Overall, smoking at school grounds seemed to decline - however, student smoking at other locations increased, hence, violating the rule about no smoking during school hours. Enforcement of smoking rules also increased over time.

CONCLUSION

Although implementing and enforcing new rules in a school setting may be difficult, it seemed that most schools in the X:IT II study changed their rules and smoking practices for both students and employees over the three-year intervention period. It seemed, however, that students relocated their smoking to other places than the school or just outside school grounds. Implications of these findings are important to consider in future interventions, i.e., students leaving school during school hours to smoke and the physical separation between those who smoke and those who do not.

Facilitating conditions for staff's confidence to enforce school tobacco policies: qualitative analysis from seven European cities

Background

School staff members’ consistent enforcement of school tobacco policies (STPs) is needed to decrease adolescent smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke. Staff’s confidence, indicating their perceived ability to cope with students’ negative responses, explains variations in staff’s STPs enforcement, yet understanding of the determinants for confidence is lacking. We analyzed the conditions in which the staff feel confident in addressing students who violate STPs to support staff’s enforcement. 

Methods

Data consists of 81 semi-structured interviews with the staff members from 26 secondary schools in seven European cities in Belgium, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands, and Portugal. In every city, 3–4 staff members (senior management, teachers, supportive staff) in 3–4 schools (academic–vocational, high–low SES area) were interviewed. Transcripts were analyzed with thematic analysis.

Results

When staff felt confident in their ability to prevent, diminish, or handle students’ negative responses, they were more likely to address students on STP violations. The staff was more confident (1) when consistent policy enforcement within school and regarding the wider society ensured staff legitimacy for STPs enforcement, (2) when dialog and mutual familiarity with students allowed the staff to facilitate constructive interaction with STP violators, and (3) when organizational backup structures provided staff collegial support to overcome challenges in the enforcement. These conditions would support consistent enforcement, especially with persistent misbehavers and among the more uncertain staff members.

Conclusions

Our study stresses the need to implement strategies at multiple levels to strengthen staff’s confidence for STP enforcement. To support staff’s legitimacy for enforcement, we suggest reinforcing structures and practices that facilitate consistency in STP enforcement; to support staff’s ability for constructive interaction with STP violators, we suggest strengthening staff’s social and emotional learning; and to support staff’s experience of collegial support, we suggest reinforcing staff’s collective ability to cope with students’ negative responses.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s43058-022-00362-7.

Intervention Activities Associated with the Implementation of a Comprehensive School Tobacco Policy at Danish Vocational Schools: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study

School tobacco policies are often poorly implemented, which may explain their limited effectiveness. Further, constructs to measure implementation outcomes of school tobacco policies are missing. The Smoke-Free Vocational Schools intervention was designed to stimulate the implementation of a comprehensive school tobacco policy into routine practice. This study (1) developed implementation fidelity outcomes measures for the school tobacco policy and (2) examined associations between intervention activities and implementation fidelity at two time points. We applied a repeated cross-sectional survey study design across seven schools: the first time point was >5 months after the policy was established and the second time point > 14 months after policy establishment. The dependent/outcome variables were four binary fidelity domains as well as a total score across domains. A total of six intervention activities were measured among either students (e.g., new school-break facilities) or staff/managers (e.g., a joint workshop before policy implementation). Associations were analyzed separately for students and staff/managers using generalized linear mixed models, adjusted for confounders. A total of n = 2674 students and n = 871 staff/managers participated. The total implementation fidelity scores increased over time among both students and staff/managers. Three intervention activities were consistently associated with the total implementation fidelity score, including: new school-break facilities (B_T1 = 0.08, 95% CI = 0.03; 0.12; B_T2 = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.04-0.50), the joint workshop before policy implementation (B_T1 = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.02; 0.25; B_T2 = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.004; 0.24), and internalization of fixed procedures for enforcement (B_T1 = 0.19, 95% CI = 0.13-0.26; B_T2 = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.13-0.26). These findings can be applied by schools and other actors in practice. The developed implementation fidelity outcomes measures can be applied in future research on school tobacco policies.

Reducing smoking in youth by a smoke-free school environment: A stratified cluster randomized controlled trial of Focus, a multicomponent program for alternative high schools

Youth smoking remains a major challenge for public health. Socioeconomic position influences the initiation and maintenance of smoking, and alternative high school students are at particularly high risk. The school environment is an important setting to promote health, however there is a lack of evidence-based school intervention programs. This article presents the Focus study, which aims to test the implementation and effectiveness of a school-based intervention integrating¹ a comprehensive school smoking policy [i.e. smoke-free school hours (SFSH)]², a course for school staff in short motivational conversations³, school class-based teaching material⁴, an edutainment session5, a class-based competition, and6 access to smoking cessation support. Together these intervention components address students' acceptability of smoking, social influences, attitudes, motivation, and opportunities for smoking. The setting is alternative high schools across Denmark, and the evaluation design is based on a stratified cluster randomized controlled trial comparing the intervention group to a control group. Outcome data is collected at baseline, midway, and at the end of the intervention period. Moreover, a detailed process evaluation, using qualitative and quantitative methods, is conducted among students, teachers, and school principals. The results from this trial will provide important knowledge on the effectiveness of a smoke-free school environment. The findings will lead to a better understanding of which policies, environments, and cognitions, contribute to preventing and reducing cigarette use among young people in a diverse and high-risk school setting, and illuminate which complementary factors are significant to achieve success when implementing SFSH.

Evaluation of the Implementation of a 25-Year Outdoor School Ground Smoking Ban: A Qualitative Interview Study With Implications for Prevention Practise

Introduction: Tobacco use, often initiated in younger ages, is a serious health challenge worldwide. In Sweden, smoking has been prohibited on school grounds since 1994. Municipal environmental and health inspectors control the compliance of the ban. Nevertheless, the enforcement and maintenance of the ban are inadequate. The aim of the current study was to identify facilitators, barriers, and the potential for improved implementation of a 25-year outdoor school ground smoking ban in upper secondary schools.

Materials and Methods: A process evaluation was conducted using semi-structured interviews with principals in upper secondary schools, local environmental and health inspectors, and local politicians (n = 30) in Stockholm County, with purposive sampling for informant recruitment. A qualitative content analysis of the transcribed interviews was performed.

Results: Three main categories and 10 subcategories were generated from the interviews, revealing facilitators, barriers, and the potential for improvement of the implementation of the ban. A prominent facilitator of the ban was informed and engaged principals and inspectors. Prominent barriers were conflicting goals governing the schools, which reduce staffs' motivation to maintain the ban, unclear school ground boundaries, and lack of resources. Potential for improvement was found in a new tobacco act with an extended ban on smoking at school entrances, extended support for schools and staff to strictly enforce the ban, and a continued denormalisation of smoking in society.

Conclusion: To achieve effective implementation of outdoor school ground smoking bans in upper secondary schools, authorities need to address conflicts between different goals governing the schools and give necessary support to the staff to strictly enforce the ban. Policies on smoke-free working hours in the municipalities along with tobacco restrictive policies in the surrounding society may increase the possibility to maintain the smoking ban in upper secondary school grounds.

Using the realist approach to unravel the complexity of health programmes: the evaluation of smoke-free school policies as a case study

Numerous commentaries plea for the use of methods that take into account complexity when evaluating health programmes. These commentaries provide compelling arguments on why evaluations of health programmes should not rely exclusively on methods that were designed for making universal claims about whether and to what extent a policy is effective. However, there exist only few concrete examples showing how to take this complexity into account during the evaluation of health programmes. One increasingly popular approach to do so is the realist approach. In this paper, we explain the realist approach for taking into account complexity, discuss how we applied this approach to study the impact of smoke-free school policies and reflect on the practical value of the resultant insights. We hope this case study may inspire fellow scholars to use the realist approach for evaluating health programmes.