Dissertation Abstract

Assessment of the Prevalence of Smoke-Free Environment Policies Throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia At Worksites Employing Fifty or More Workers

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of smoke-free environment polices throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia at worksites employing fifty or more workers. Specifically, this study assessed policy prevalence, development, implementation, and enforcement. In addition, this study assessed smoke-free environment policy effectiveness. The population for this investigation consisted of telephone surveys of 374 worksites located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. Of these worksites, 340 (91%) completed the telephone survey. The population (n = 340) was spread throughout five health regions, Northern, Northwest, Central, Southwest, and East. Descriptive analysis and One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were applied to investigate differences between these five health regions. An alpha of .05 was selected for this study.

Based on the findings, the following conclusions were drawn: (1) Fifty-percent of the worksites located throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia have some form of smoke-free environment policies; (2) The smoke-free environment policy constructs used in the telephone survey guide were statistically significant in identifying differences between the five health regions; (3) Smoke-free environment policies at the worksite are dependent upon health region; (4) Implementation of smoke-free environment policies is dependent upon health region; (5) Enforcement of smoke-free environment policies is dependent upon health region, and (6) Effectiveness of smoke-free environment policies is dependent upon health region. The following recommendations were suggested: (1) Further studies assessing smoke-free environment policy enforcement should be conducted annually; (2) Studies incorporating a qualitative research methodology regarding smoke-free environment policy prevalence should be conducted; (3) Studies involving common smoke-free environment policies at different states should be investigated, and (4) Additional in-depth surveys should be conducted to evaluate health outcomes associated with the implementation of smoke-free environment policies.

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