Women more likely to leave substance abuse treatment center after new tobacco-free policy
When a new tobacco-free policy was instituted at an Ohio women's substance abuse treatment center, both smokers and non-smokers were more likely to leave treatment early in the first few months after the policy change, a new study found.
The results don't mean treatment centers shouldn't try smoking bans, according to the researchers, but they do highlight the challenges involved with implementing a new policy that goes against years of conventional thinking.
Researchers found that the number of patients who completed a program at the women's treatment center decreased 28 percentage points - from 70 to 42 percent - following the center's implementation of a tobacco-free policy.
"Following the implementation of the new policy, clients were significantly less likely to complete treatment than they were prior to the adoption of tobacco-free policies," said Thomas Gregoire, co-author of the study and associate professor of social work at Ohio State University.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110507/Women-more-likely-to-leave-substance-abuse-treatment-center-after-new-tobacco-free-policy.aspx