ASH Scotland considers second-hand smoke in the home

Today saw ASH Scotland's conference entitled Smokefree Homes and Cars, at the Dundee Hilton. Its agenda speaks pretty much for itself (but more below). ASH Scotland's work on smokefree homes has been assisted by  a National Lottery grant of £500,000, awarded in 2009 which was more than half its government grant for 2009/2010 (most recent information on ASH Scotland's finances here).

Yesterday (the 2nd) ASH Scotland released a press release on the event, which referred only to the 'smokefree homes' element. Sheila Duffy summarises future requirements as follows:

• 'setting a national target for reducing second-hand smoke exposure in the home;
• ensure continued funding to develop and evaluate new smoke-free home programmes at local level;
• develop a robust monitoring and evaluation system to measure and compare effectiveness of the range of projects that are ongoing and share best practice;
• develop further training in second-hand smoke issues amongst health professionals and others who work with families;
• support partnership working to meet targets and pool resources; and consider implementing a public health campaign to raise the awareness of second-hand smoke in the home.'

None of these involves any change in smoking legislation, but intensive 'partnership working' with people who deliver services about smoking. And of course a funding commitment (they will need a renewal of this revenue stream) – but with lottery funding and occasional injections of cash from Cancer Research UK topping this up.

Ever wanted to know what the Big Society means? Forgive my cynicism, but it means just this: 'voluntary sector' groups can set a policy agenda, attract funding enough to pay nearly thirty salaries and organise and pay for policy implementation with limited parliamentary scrutiny. Within a few short years, our fear of secondary smoke has allowed us to abrogate responsibility for controlling the stuff, to the extent that we are now supposed to welcome 'experts' who wish to advise us about making our children and grandchildren and their friends ill from the effects of fourth hand smoke. No law is needed, we are just expected to do what the experts tell us is right. Our rights to privacy have been trumped by a perceived right to 'smokefree' air.

Just as ASH Scotland succeeded in creating smoke-free psychiatric services without resorting to changing the law, and not  unlike Honduras, where the police can be called for dealing with family smoking even though smoking is not itself a crime, government is bypassed and partnership working does the rest.

A top-down policy agenda (in the case of smoking, one that we know comes from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control) is fulfilled, to all appearances, by 'the community' with popular support from the grassroots. I don't buy it: nothing suggests that the smoke-free agenda is anything but doctrinaire and intolerant scaremongering.

How attending free anti-smoking conference will get you points

Source, Learning outcomes link at this page.


Learning Outcomes for Smokefree Homes and Cars
With NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework below

Participants will:
1. develop their knowledge base around the harm caused by second-hand tobacco smoke inhalation
2. understand the part that smokefree homes initiatives play in Scotland’s tobacco control strategy
3. appreciate the progress made to date in changing public attitudes towards smoking in the presence of children
4. be able to describe several initiatives underway outside their own health board area to address second-hand  smoking in homes and cars
5. be able to describe some of the most recent findings regarding the harm caused by second-hand smoke exposure
6. be able to articulate the benefits of working in a multi-agency partnership to address passive smoke exposure in the home
7. recognise the challenges associated with addressing resistance to implementing smokefree homes, both within organisations which could provide support and within the community
8. feel more confident in advocating within their organisation or community for support for smokefree homes initiatives
9. be aware of training available to address smoking in the home
10. Additionally, those participants who undertake brief advice training on the day of the event will: feel more confident about giving brief advice to those considering making their home smokefree.


Knowledge Skills Framework (KSF) outlines:  Learning Outcomes for Smokefree Homes and Cars Conference
Learning outcomes 1 – 9 have the potential to provide evidence for application of the following KSF
Core C1 Communication                         Level 2
Core C2 Personal & People Development Level 2
Core C3 Health, Safety & Security
Core C4 Service Improvement                 Level 2
Core C5 Quality
Core C6 Equality & Diversity
Health & Wellbeing 1                                 Level 2


Learning Outcome 10 adds in the following HWB3 level 2 
Health & Wellbeing 3                                 Level 2
For the competencies for public health practice:
Area 1: Professional and ethical practice 
4: Continually develop and improve own and others’ practice in public health
Area 2: Technical competencies in public health practice
8. Identify risks to health, wellbeing and safety, providing advice on how to prevent, ameliorate or control them – demonstrating:

• knowledge of the risks to health, wellbeing and safety relevant to own area of work and of the varying scale of risk
• knowledge of the different approaches to preventing risks and how to communicate risk to different audiences.

Area 3: Application of technical competencies to public health work
9. Work collaboratively to plan and/or deliver programmes to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for populations/communities/groups/families/individuals

This work was funded £500,000 by the Big Lottery: a grant over half the value of ASH Scotland's core government grant last year. The project is called Refresh. NHS Scotland funding has ensured that attendance at the conference can be free

Fifteen years ago I worked in a key government department on drug misuse based in St Andrews Square. I was employed for a single year as casual Administrative Assistant. There were two Administrative Officers, an Executive Officer and two Administrative Assistants with a typing pool of three shared with other divisions, and the division heads totalling no more than nine or ten. ASH Scotland has approaching 30 staff on its payroll (another Word document sets them out from 'about us' (ASH Scotland organisation chart). I have no idea of the size of the drug misuse division now but it is extraordinary to find a government-funded charity fighting tobacco use with over three times as many staff as a government division on drug misuse.