According to the Notification of the Ministry of Public Health, volume 135 special part 239 D (Issued Date: November 5, 2018), Every healthcare facility has been announced as the smoke-free area. Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, has realized the importance of creating a healthy environment. Therefore, the committee of Siriraj Smoke-Free project has brought the smoke-free healthcare standard under the healthcare professional network in controlling the tobacco consumption, Medical Association of Thailand, as the guideline to follow.
The duration of the project is all year round and implemented to all areas of the hospital and nearby community. The project run by the committee of Siriraj Smoke-free project, Faculty of Nursing, Faculty of Medical Technology, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Mahidol University, and nearby community. The objective of the project is to be certified as the national standard smoke-free healthcare facility. The main target for the project is the hospital personnel, medical students, patients, and local people.
The project implemented as the following detail,
- 1) Leading Organization: The executive members issue the related policy, appoint the working committee for making the policy into motion, and set the operational plan for coordinating
- 2) Communication and Public Relations: Setting up “the World No Tobacco Day” activity, the area for smoking, and punishment measures for violation of smoking, Setting up the health education activity to help those who’re trying to quit smoking and other activities that create the understanding inside the organization along with promoting the information to the service receiver, a nearby community, network, and local people
- 3) Personnel Development: Hospital provides its personnel development with various methods for better work efficiency such as educational discussion within the organization. Sending the hospital personnel to join the academic conference to improve their potential and supporting the research
- 4) Searching and Treating the smokers: Creating the Service Pathway to connect the treatment system for smoking patients in IPD and OPD.
- 5) Management for Smoking Cessation Clinic: Establishing Fah-Sai Siriraj Clinic to increase the normal triage and treatment without medicine and connecting the service with the smoking cessation clinic which is focused on treatment with medicine and coordinating with the network for the patients who try to quit smoking without any expenses
- 6) Making the hospital as the smoke-free area: Making the non-smoking sign and channel for complaints when people see anyone violating the rules.
- 7) Supporting the smoke-free community: Adding the point about working execution in the health development plan for the community such as smoke-free school, smoke-free market, and smoke-free temple.
- 8) Analysis and Evaluation: evaluating the working output with empirical data such as surveying the smoking behavior of the hospital personnel and medical students. Building the database for patients who try to quit smoking as concrete evidence.
By now, overall participants have participated in the event of this project as the following,
- “World No Tobacco Day” Activity: 500 people per year
- “Hospital Personnel Stop Smoking” Activity: 30 – 50 people per year
- “Quit Smoking” service for patients: 100 people (in the data collecting process)
The outcome of the project can be listed below,
- Hospital personnel and medical students who smoke can change their behaviors
- Hospital personnel and medical students who don’t smoke will not be a new smoker
- The nearby community has the standard in the tobacco consumption controlling in the area
- Smoking patients receive the treatment, prevent any complications, and decrease the death rate due to the smoking
- The faculty has been certified as the national standard smoke-free healthcare facility
