CONFERENCE PROCEEDING
Empowering university students to take actions to reduce tobacco smoking in Rajarata University of Sri Lanka
 
More details
Hide details
1
Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale, Sri Lanka
 
 
Publication date: 2021-09-02
 
 
Corresponding author
Asinsala Wijerathne   

Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Mihintale, Sri Lanka
 
 
Tob. Induc. Dis. 2021;19(Suppl 1):A255
 
KEYWORDS
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Tobacco smoking is becoming a health issue among university students. The condition is the same in Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. As the health promotion department in the university, we decided to take actions to address this issue.

Objectives:
The objective of this study was to empower the university students to take actions to reduce tobacco smoking in Faculty of Management in Rajarata University of Sri Lanka.

Methods:
This study was carried out with 85 students in Faculty of Management in Rajarata University of Sri Lanka. Group discussions were initiated by assessing attitudes on smoking. Then, discussed about long and short term health impact especially about short term impacts by using ‘mirror tool’, a poster with a mirror in between two faces of a smoker and a non-smoker. Then, discussed about company strategies. Then, they listed actions that can be taken to address this issue in their faculty and hostel.

Results:
According to post assessment, awareness about harmful effects of smoking was increased. And after the discussions, they understood smoking as a major issue in the university and they, themselves are the resource persons who can change this issue. They suggested lots of ideas and prioritized 8 of them to be implemented. Those were banning selling of cigarettes within and near the university using informal ways, pasting notices and posters to demonstrate the harm of smoking, checking hostels once a month, openly criticizing smoking, taking actions to avoid the influence of seniors to smoke, explaining the adverse effects of smoking by girl friends, changing attitudes of peers about smoking and sharing posts that deglamorize smoking through social media.

Conclusion(s):
The university students can suggest and prioritize effective actions to reduce smoking when they were interactively engaged in open discussions and when the ownership of the process of addressing the issue is given to themselves.

eISSN:1617-9625
Journals System - logo
Scroll to top