Leave The Pack Behind

1
Smoke Free Campus Activities in Ontario
Leave The Pack Behind Sharon Lawler RN, MEd
co-Director and Manager More Smoke-Free
Air Bi-national Tobacco Control Series, Part
2 June 3, 2009
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Agenda

• Provide overviews of
• Leave The Pack Behind
• Ontario tobacco control laws
• Present an ideal campus tobacco control policy
• Describe how to
• upgrade campus tobacco control policies
• support campus tobacco control policies

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Leave The Pack Behind

• A comprehensive tobacco control initiative,
  operating on all universities and most colleges
  in Ontario with funding from the government of
  Ontario (and Health Canada)

College sites
University sites
except Alfred, La Cite, Northern
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LTPB Objectives

• To reduce rates and prevalence of tobacco use
  among post-secondary students, LTPB uses
• sustained peer-to-peer outreach programming
• weekly displays residence presentations special
  events campus media
• ongoing cessation support annual contest
  smoking policy activities
• Campus-based Brief Tobacco Intervention in all
  clinics
• on-site training of clinicians materials to hand
  out newsletters
• To ensure effectiveness, LTPB evaluates /
  studies
• program effectiveness
• smoking prevalence behaviours (inc. contraband
  use)
• campus health professionals interventions

5
Ontario Tobacco Control Laws

• Ontario laws do not address smoking in residences
  or tobacco sales on campus
• Because each school writes its own tobacco
  control policy
• most residences are smoke-free
• some campuses allow tobacco sales
• few campuses limit contracts with tobacco
  companies
• most campuses restrict outdoor smoking to a
  degree
• a few campuses prohibit outdoor smoking except in
  designated smoking areas (with or without
  shelters)

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An Ideal Tobacco Control Policy

• In any building or property owned, rented or
• leased by the university
• all smoking ( use of smokeless tobacco) is
  prohibited except in outdoor designated smoking
  areas (DSAs)
• DSAs must be 5 meters from entrances windows,
  and 9 meters away from air intakes, loading docks
  and flammable materials
• promotion, advertising and sale of tobacco
  products and/or paraphernalia is prohibited
• continued .

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An Ideal Tobacco Control Policy

• corporate tobacco sponsorship of events or groups
  is not permitted
• the student government its employees, the
  university its employees, and any retailers
  operating in buildings owned, rented or leased
  by the university are prohibited from entering
  into contractual agreements with tobacco
  companies or companies that promote tobacco

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The Politics of Improving Campus Tobacco Control
Policy

• Membership on the Health Safety committee
  addressing tobacco control
• Letters to senior administrators (inc. President)
• Student government initiatives
• Student-initiated petitions, referendums,
  campaigns, events, etc.
• Faculty and staff complaints to Health Safety
  Department

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Supporting Campus Tobacco Control Policy
Education

• Campus security patrol inform smokers for first
  2 weeks of each semester with extra surveillance
  of trouble spots
• LTPB team does positive reinforcement campaigns
• DSA maps are posted with floor plan maps
• Signage around campus directs smokers to DSAs
• Notices appear on internal TV monitors each
  semester
• Staff, faculty administration receive annual
  reminders to educate students on location of DSAs
  
• Campus Tours, Campus Connection and First Day
  activities include DSA information
• S.A.C. student planners include DSA maps

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• Partnership LTPB with Health Safety Office

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Supporting Campus Tobacco Control Policy Smoking
Cessation

• Physicians and nurses who work in the campus
  services can support cessation
• train physicians and nurses to provide cessation
  support
• ensure clinic have age-tailored, self-help
  smoking cessation materials, free NRT samples
  to distribute to all identified smokers (staff
  and students!)
• Make EAP cessation counseling services available
  for staff

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Supporting Campus Tobacco Control Policy Smoking
Cessation

• Student/peer educators can support cessation
• provide one-to-one information quitting
• host educational displays, classroom and
  residence presentations throughout school year
• maintain web-based cessation support
• send motivational email messages on request
• make referrals to take referrals from clinic

13
Supporting Campus Tobacco Control Policy
Compliance

• Strategies for enforcement must be available
• engage campus security
• provide positive reinforcement for compliance
  (e.g., LTPB peer messaging)
• establish an education period and announce
  penalties (e.g., tickets, fines, reporting etc.)
  before enforcing penalties
• encourage the community to self regulate (???)

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Smoke-Free Campus Movement University of Ottawa

• Started by 2 students Ryan Kennery Sarah Burke
• In October, they put up awareness posters (like
  the one shown) all over campus
• They wanted 2 questions on the upcoming
  referendum, and needed to collect 1500 signatures
  for the Student Federation of the University of
  Ottawa (SFUO) Board of Administration

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The Referendum Questions

• They got more than enough signatures for their
  planned referendum questions
• 1) Should the SFUO ban the sale of tobacco
  products from any SFUO businesses, as soon as
  possible?
• 2) Do you support a smoke-free campus, where
  smoking would only be allowed in designated
  areas?
• They began to campaign for a yes vote

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Campaign Period

• Educational posters were created with the
  campaign slogan Lets clear the air

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Campaign Period

• Buttons were created and distributed

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Voting (Feb. 10-12, 2009)

• on-line voting was used
• voter turn-out was 27.2 (8069 students)!
• results were
• 65.5 in favour of SFUO
• banning the sale of tobacco
• products in any SFUO business
• as soon as possible.
• 74.8 in favour of
• smokefree campus,
• where smoking is only
• allowed in designated areas

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Next Steps

• met with the current SFUO and the SFUO-elect to
  discuss steps they will be taking to follow
  through with the referendum demands
• SFUOs VP Finance (Roxanne Dubois) is responsible
  for overseeing the operations of SFUO businesses
• SFUO has announced that as of May 1st 2009, it
  will begin a liquidation of the remaining tobacco
  products in the Pivik

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Summary

• Ideal tobacco control policies for campuses are
  comprehensive, including restrictions on smoking
  locations, prohibiting the sale and promotion of
  tobacco, and banning any contracts with tobacco
  companies
• Use multi-channel communication to educate the
  campus community about the policy

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Summary

• A variety of cessation supports should be offered
  (peer-to-peer self-help, clinical support,
  web-based support, EAP NRT)
• Work diligently on compliance each semester
• There are many ways to get a good tobacco control
  policy on a campus