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. 2009 Jan;6(1):246-58.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph6010246. Epub 2009 Jan 13.

Smoke-free medical facility campus legislation: support, resistance, difficulties and cost

Christine Sheffer  1 , Maxine Stitzer, J Gary Wheeler
Affiliations

Smoke-free medical facility campus legislation: support, resistance, difficulties and cost

Christine Sheffer et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2009 Jan.

Abstract

Although medical facilities restrict smoking inside, many people continue to smoke outside, creating problems with second-hand smoke, litter, fire risks, and negative role modeling. In 2005, Arkansas passed legislation prohibiting smoking on medical facility campuses. Hospital administrators (N=113) were surveyed pre- and post-implementation. Administrators reported more support and less difficulty than anticipated. Actual cost was 10-50% of anticipated cost. Few negative effects and numerous positive effects on employee performance and retention were reported. The results may be of interest to hospital administrators and demonstrate that state legislation can play a positive role in facilitating broad health-related policy change.

Keywords: Smoke-free hospitals; health effects; legislated policy change; public smoking bans; secondhand tobacco smoke; tobacco smoking.

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