None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Background: A smoking ban was implemented across all prisons in Queensland, Australia, in May 2014, with the aim of improving the health of prisoners and prison staff. However, post-release relapse to smoking among prisoners is common. The WISE study, conducted in the US by Clarke and colleagues (2013), is the only study that has rigorously evaluated an intervention aiming to assist individuals in remaining abstinent from smoking following release from a smoke-free prison. This intervention resulted in significantly higher abstinence rates for the intervention group compared to the control group three months post-release (11.5% and 2.4% respectively). Methods: This paper describes the design and rationale of a randomised controlled trial that aims to replicate an adapted version of the WISE intervention in Queensland prisons, with the goal of extending smoking abstinence among a population of incarcerated men due to be released from smoke-free prisons. Prisoners in the intervention group will receive four weekly sessions of a brief intervention involving group sessions of motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioural therapy, initiated in the four weeks prior to release. The control group will receive a pamphlet and brief verbal intervention at the time of baseline assessment. Assessment of post-release smoking status will be conducted by parole officers at weekly parole meetings for a maximum of three months post-release, allowing for smoking rates among the intervention and control groups to be compared. Discussion: Effective interventions that result in long-term smoking cessation are needed so as to reduce existing health disparities in this vulnerable group of Australians.
Interventions
This will be a randomised controlled trial.
Intervention group participants will receive four weekly group sessions of the intervention, in the four weeks prior to their release. They will be assigned to a group depending on their release date to ensure all members of each group are due for release at approximately the same time. Each group will consist of between four and six participants. Each intervention session will be about 40-60 minutes in duration, and will be arranged at dates and tim
This will be a randomised controlled trial. Intervention group participants will receive four weekly group sessions of the intervention, in the four weeks prior to their release. They will be assigned to a group depending on their release date to ensure all members of each group are due for release at approximately the same time. Each group will consist of between four and six participants. Each intervention session will be about 40-60 minutes in duration, and will be arranged at dates and times that are convenient to the prisoners and prison officials. As per the study design by Clarke and colleagues (2013), sessions one and four will be based on principles of Motivational Interviewing (MI), and sessions two and three on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). MI sessions will be based on encouraging empathy, providing useful information, reflection, open-ended questioning, and aiding the development of self-efficacy and personal choice. The CBT sessions will teach participants to recognise specific environmental and event triggers to smoking and identify behavioural and coping strategies in response to these triggers. The intervention session plan is based on the successful WISE intervention delivered by Clarke and colleagues (2013). Each participant's attendance at group sessions will be recorded. Sessions will be delivered by the primary researcher, Cheneal Puljevic, who has a background in psychology and counselling, and she will receive refresher training from Associate Professor Grant Devilly, a registered psychologist with extensive experience in forensic settings.
Sponsors
Griffith University
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
Male
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
18 years old or older; male; incarcerated after the smoking ban was introduced (5 May 2014); have been incarcerated continuously for at least 4 weeks (so as to have passed tobacco withdrawal); and will be released to a minimum of one month of court-ordered parole.
Exclusion criteria
Under 18 years of age, incarcerated before the smoking ban was introduced (i.e. prior to 5 May 2014), were released and then reincarcerated, incarcerated for less than 4 weeks, not released to court-ordered parole.
Outcome results
None listed