Effect of a Work-Family Intervention on Smoking: Findings from the Work, Family and Health Network

David A. Hurtado, Harvard University
Cassandra Okechukwu, Harvard University
Orfeu Buxton, Harvard University
Leslie Hammer, Portland State University
Ginger Hanson, Kaiser Permanente
Laura Klein, Pennsylvania State University
Lisa Berkman, Harvard University

We tested the effect on smoking of the Work, Family and Health Network (WFHN) study, a group randomized-field trial, designed to decrease work-family conflict, where 1,524 direct-care workers in 30 nursing homes were assigned to either intervention or control (usual practice) conditions. We used general lineal mixed models to estimate the effect of the intervention on self-reported smoking cessation and intensity. At baseline, 30 percent of workers were smokers averaging 77 cigarettes per week. At six-month follow-up, smokers at intervention sites smoked fewer cigarettes per week compared with smokers at usual practices sites (b=-7.5, 95% CI -14.83, -0.22, p<0.05). However, we found no smoking cessation effects comparing intervention with usual practices sites (OR: 0.75, 95% CI 0.35, 1.57, p>0.05). Although the intervention did not include specific tobacco cessation components, smoking intensity was reduced in the presence of organizational policies and practices that supported the integration of work and family roles.