Oral

This session looks at tobacco use among the 99%. For over 90 million adults in the United States, difficulty with health literacy interferes with the capacity to obtain, process, and understand health information. Moreover, these individuals have an increased risk of disease. Because tobacco smoking is the leading behavioral risk factor contributing to social disparities in the incidence and mortality of disease, there is a critical need to better understand how health literacy and smoking may be related. In one approach, community-based participatory research findings regarding parental and other adult environmental tobacco smoke exposure were translated into a curriculum targeting federally subsidized, inner-city daycare providers; so they can enhance not only their own capacity to understand and deal with tobacco smoke exposure for young children, but also increase parents' knowledge of toxins and how to reduce the harms of tobacco smoke exposure for young children. Employers are increasingly adopting non-nicotine hiring practices, and with high unemployment rates, employers can be more selective in their hiring and retention decisions. Research has not examined the association between tobacco use and employability. Among the 3 million individuals experiencing homelessness in an average year, the prevalence of cigarette smoking is strikingly high (70%); one of multiple barriers to improving smoking cessation in this underserved population.

Session Objectives: 1. Describe associations between health literacy and other smoking-related variables among racially/ethnically diverse smokers with low socioeconomic status. 2. Discuss approaches to engaging childcare providers in addressing environmental tobacco smoke with low SES populations. 3. Describe the association between tobacco use and employability. 4. Explain the relation between knowing people who have quit on smoking cessation.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)