Files
Abstract
Tobacco-related illnesses are among the leading preventable causes of death for Latinxs in the United States. Unfortunately, Latinxs are less likely to receive advice to quit from health professionals or use tobacco cessation strategies, such as nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs), than non-Hispanic whites. The position of community health workers (CHWs) as health workers who address health issues outside strict healthcare settings warrants further attention to address smoking cessation disparities in Latinxs. A needs assessment with Spanish-speaking CHWs serving Latinx communities in a metropolitan area was conducted to understand tobacco-related services, attitudes, and knowledge. Results suggest that Spanish-speaking CHWs are mainly employed in community organizations (67%) part-time (55%). CHWs offer various services, with health education as the most predominant one. In terms of tobacco-related services, most of the CHWs (58.6%) assess/discuss tobacco use, yet half of the sample (51.7%) reported low confidence in addressing this issue directly. Some CHWs (41%) expressed that their clients/patients would use NRTs if offered and identified “Financial Cost” (31%) as a significant deterrent to the use of NRTs. CHWs’ score on a Tobacco Knowledge questionnaire was low, indicating low knowledge of areas related to tobacco (4.03 out of 10; SD=1.92). There were some differences in terms of employment characteristics, time spent with clients/patients, and preferences for future training when comparing the Spanish-speaking CHWs with the results from a previous sample of English-speaking CHWs. This study suggests that Spanish-speaking CHWs will benefit from tobacco cessation training that considers their specific needs.