TECC Technical Assistance Portfolio 2023-2024

Communities Energized for Health

Communities Energized for Health

Fact Sheet

Fact Sheet

Tehama County Residents Deserve to Have Healthy & Smokefree Homes

EVERYONE DESERVES TO HAVE HEALTHY, SMOKEFREE HEALTHCARE!

A smokefree healthcare facility is a win for everybody! Your health care center works hard to promote wellness in Amador County. Clients visit your site for health and social services. When your facility is smokefree you: » Reduce secondhand smoke exposure for everyone. » Reduce smoking-related healthcare costs. » Reduce toxic tobacco litter and cleaning costs. » Decrease the risk of accidental fire. » Decrease employee absences due to smoking related illnesses. When your agency adopts a smokefree policy, you lead the way to healthier lifestyle choices.

What’s the Issue? Communities Energized for Health (CEH) spoke with residents living in Tehama County about their experience with secondhand smoke. Here’s what we found:

In the U.S., 41,000 nonsmokers die from secondhand smoke each year. 1

There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. It is especially dangerous for children and can cause lasting damage to growing lungs. 1

OVER 70% of residents surveyed have been bothered by secondhand smoke drifting into common areas.

NEARLY 80% have

What is a smokefree healthcare facility? A smokefree policy states where smoking can and cannot take place.

We should have a law to protect kids in this complex.

been bothered by secondhand smoke in their home.

THIS PROPERTY IS SMOKE-FREE

The goal is to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke. Because secondhand smoke can enter your facility through vents, electrical outlets, windows, and even tiny cracks in the walls, the only way to ensure the safety of your patients and staff is by adopting a 100% smokefree healthcare facility policy. A smokefree policy does not require staff or patients to stop smoking if they don’t want to quit. It simply restricts where smoking is allowed. When you make your care facility smokefree, you create a healthier environment.

99% of Tehama County residents support a comprehensive smokefree multiunit housing policy.

Contact Communities Energized for Health to learn how your health care facility can become smokefree!

TEHAMA RESIDENT

Nicole Morg an, MPH Nicole.morgan@etr.org www.etr.org/ceh 510-913-9708

“I hope this (smokefree apartments) becomes a reality.”

“I have no idea why anyone is allowed to or would consider smoking near a health care facility, but I see it all the time.”

YOLO RESIDENT TEHAMA RESIDENT

Amador County Resident

“It is especially important that secondhand smoke be eliminated surrounding healthcare facilities due to the health and well-being of the patients that need to visit these places.”

For assistance with smokefree policies, contact: nicole.morgan@etr.org

Amador County Resident

REFERENCE: 1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). The health consequences of smoking – 50 years of progress: A report of the surgeon general. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health ©2024. California Department of Public Health. Funded under grant # CTCP-20-10379.

Data Source: Convenience sample of 80 Tehama County residents who participated in public opinion polls in June 2022. The survey was administered by Communities Energized for Health, a project of ETR.

©2024. California Department of Public Health. Funded under contract # 20-10379.

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