For Immediate Release: Feb. 15, 2002
Contact: Bill Schaller617-632-5357[email protected]
News Tips from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute1. Social Influences in the Workplace Contribute to Occupational Differences in Quitting Smoking
2. Childhood Cancer Patients Find Survival is the First Step in Lifelong Battle
Social Influences in the Workplace Contribute to Occupational Differences in Quitting Smoking
Does the culture of the workplace affect people's motivation and success at quitting smoking? Do social pressures at different occupations provide differing degrees of support for quitting?
According to a study by Dana-Farber researchers, there's strong reason for answering 'yes.'
In a survey of 2,600 smokers at 44 predominantly manufacturing sites in New England, investigators found that blue-collar workers reported less pressure to quit smoking and less support for quitting than was reported by other workers. Blue-collar workers also reported greater acceptance of smoking among their coworkers.
Those factors were closely related to smokers' likelihood of giving up the habit. Researchers found that social pressure and support for quitting were associated with a greater intention, among smokers, to quit. The same was true among smokers who felt greater social rewards for quitting.
"It's known that blue-collar workers are more likely to be smokers than white-collar workers," says lead author Glorian Sorensen, Ph.D., MPH, director of the Center for Community-Based Research at Dana-Farber. "The results of this study suggest that differing social environments may explain why smoking and smoking-cessation rates differ among various occupational categories."
The report was published in the January/February issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
Childhood Cancer Patients Find Survival is the First Step in Lifelong Battle
Fifty years ago, the vast majority of childhood cancers were fatal. Today, three-quarters of the children diagnosed with cancer in the United States can expect to be cured, thanks to advances made in diagnostics and treatments. This welcome success, however, comes with a host of complex issues relating to a childhood cancer survivor's long-term health and quality of life.
"There is sometimes an unfortunate trade-off in treating childhood cancers in that the therapies that are used to save patients' lives can also adversely affect their lives immediately following treatment as well as years later," says Lisa Diller, M.D., medical director of the David B. Perini, Jr. Quality of Life Clinic at Dana-Farber.
Heart problems, infertility, impaired growth, and cognitive loss are a few of the more serious complications associated with some radiation and chemotherapy treatments. The Perini Clinic brings together a multidisciplinary team of health care professionals to work with survivors - both children and adults - of childhood cancers who were treated several decades ago. In addition to medical and psychosocial care, the clinic also conducts research aimed at developing a better understanding of the long-term effects of certain cancer treatments.
"Knowing how the treatments affect people later in life is an important step in helping us to monitor and perhaps prevent some of these long-term complications," says Diller.
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