1. Tobacco Knowledge, Attitudes, and Services Among Latino/a Community Health Workers.
- Author
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Villacis Alvarez, Enrique, Nicholson, Lian, Villamar, Dario, Huard, Clarissa, Veluz-Wilkins, Anna, and Tan, Marcia
- Subjects
OCCUPATIONAL roles ,SMOKING cessation ,CONFIDENCE ,HISPANIC Americans ,ATTITUDES of medical personnel ,COMMUNITY health services ,HEALTH literacy ,SPANISH language ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RESEARCH funding ,NICOTINE replacement therapy ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,NEEDS assessment ,METROPOLITAN areas ,PART-time employment ,DATA analysis software ,TOBACCO ,EDUCATIONAL attainment - Abstract
Background: Tobacco-related illnesses are among the leading preventable causes of death for Latinos/as in the United States. Latino/a groups are less likely to receive advice to quit from health professionals or use tobacco cessation strategies. The position of community health workers (CHWs) warrants further attention to address tobacco-related disparities in Latino/a communities. The objective of this study was to describe CHWs' roles to inform future smoking cessation training to ensure relevance and accessibility. Methods: A needs assessment survey, including a 10-item tobacco knowledge questionnaire, was conducted with 29 Latino/a CHWs serving Latino/a communities in a metropolitan area to assess their roles, tobacco related services, attitudes, and knowledge. Results: All CHWs were Spanish-speaking and mainly employed part time (55%) in community organizations (67%). They offered various services, primarily health education. Most of the CHWs (58.6%) assessed and discussed tobacco use, yet half (51.7%) reported low confidence in this area. Some CHWs (41%) expressed that their clients/patients would use evidence-based nicotine replacement therapies as a smoking cessation treatment if offered and identified "Financial Cost" (31%) as a deterrent of use. CHWs' score on a tobacco knowledge questionnaire indicated low knowledge in areas related to tobacco (4.03 out of 10; SD = 1.92). Conclusions: CHWs reported low tobacco related knowledge and confidence, and would benefit from tailored tobacco cessation training to decrease tobacco cessation disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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