Schools as smoke-free zones? Barriers and facilitators to the adoption of outdoor school ground smoking bans at secondary schools

A.D. Rozema; J.J.P. Mathijssen; M.W.J. Jansen; J.A.M. van Oers

doi:10.1186/s12971-016-0076-9

March/2016 vol. 14

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RESEARCH PAPER

Schools as smoke-free zones? Barriers and facilitators to the adoption of outdoor school ground smoking bans at secondary schools

A.D. Rozema ¹

, J.J.P. Mathijssen ¹, M.W.J. Jansen ^{2, 3}, J.A.M. van Oers ^{1, 4}

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1	Department Tranzo, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
2	Academic Collaborative Centre for Public Health Limburg, Public Health Service South Limburg (GGD ZL), Geleen, The Netherlands
3	Department of Health Services Research, School for Public Health and Primary Care CAPHRI, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
4	National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, The Netherlands

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR

A.D. Rozema

Department Tranzo, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 90153, Tilburg 5000 LE, The Netherlands

Submission date: 2016-02-01

Acceptance date: 2016-03-22

Publication date: 2016-03-29

Tobacco Induced Diseases 2016;14(March):10

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12971-016-0076-9

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References (39) Citations (13)

KEYWORDS

smoke-free

adoption

tobacco control policy

health promotion

secondary school

ABSTRACT

Background:
Whereas smoking bans inside secondary school buildings are relatively widespread, a smoking ban for the outdoor school grounds is less common. Therefore, this study investigates why many secondary schools fail to adopt an outdoor school ground smoking ban. The aim is to elucidate the perceived barriers and facilitators of stakeholders at schools without an outdoor school ground smoking ban.

Methods:
Qualitative data were obtained from 60 respondents of 15 secondary schools. Semi-structured interviews were held with various key stakeholders and a thematic approach was used for analysis of the transcripts.

Results:
The perceived barriers and facilitators of the stakeholders fell into four categories: 1) socio-political characteristics (legislation and social norm), 2) school characteristics (policy, decision process, enforcement, resources, workforce conditions, communication and collaboration), 3) individual characteristics (support, knowledge, and target group), and 4) smoking ban characteristics (environmental factors, guideline recommendations, outcome expectations, and evidence).

Conclusions:
These findings highlight the importance of legislation for outdoor smoking bans. Moreover, collaboration, communication and involving stakeholders during an early stage of the process should be stimulated, as this might increase adoption. These results can be applied in future studies on outdoor tobacco control policies; moreover, they may facilitate tobacco control initiatives leading to more smoke-free environments to further protect youth from the harmful effects of tobacco.

REFERENCES (39)

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