Homeless Former Smokers' Interest in Helping Homeless Current Smokers Quit

Abstract

Purpose.

To describe the factors associated with interest of homeless former smokers in helping homeless smokers quit.

Methods.

A cross-sectional survey administered to an optimized convenience sample of homeless persons (n = 4570) at emergency shelters, transitional housing units, and open encampments in 80 cities across Minnesota. The in-person survey response rate was 90%.

Analysis.

Chi-square tests and t-tests for univariate analysis.

Results.

Of 4534 participants completing the smoking questions, 546 participants (12%) self-identified as former smokers, of which 59% expressed interest in helping homeless smokers quit. Significant predictors of reported interest in helping included racial/ethnic background (p < .05), number of people known who had quit smoking (p < .01), and receiving social services as an adult (p < .01).

Conclusion.

Homeless former smokers are a potential resource for peer support programs to promote smoking cessation among homeless current smokers.

Keywords

Peer Support Smoking Cessation Homeless Persons Prevention Research Manuscript format: applied research brief Research purpose: to describe factors associated with interest in helping homeless smokers quit by homeless former smokers Study design: cross-sectional survey Outcome measure: interest in helping with quitting Setting: homeless shelters in 60 towns of Minnesota Health focus: smoking cessation Strategy: bivariate analysis Target population: homeless Target population circumstances: living without permanent shelter

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