HAS921 Health Research Methodology II: How Racism Impact?

Association of racism and smoking rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 20-25 years in Sydney.

Background

• Racism is defined as the belief of people based on superiority of one race over another (Bonilla-Silva 2017).

• The consequence of racism may lead to prejudice towards the people depending on their race ethnicity or race which in turn results in social discrimination.

• Beside such disadvantages racism has been found to impact on health behavior of the people such as smoking as well (Kirkinis et al. 2018).

• Study had indicated inequality in the rates of smoking initiation in the economically and socially disadvantaged population.

• Adolescence is identified as the most vulnerable period which is associated with initiation of various health behavior including smoking and endure the adverse effect during adulthood (Lê Cook et al. 2014).

• Different factors have been identified that influence the smoking in adults for example, social and structural level, influence of peers, parents and siblings, mental stress, lack of education and cultural influence as well (Öncel et al. 2014).

• Such factors have indicated socio-cultural influence on initiation of smoking.

• Racism has been detected as the social construct that initiated through manifestation of oppression and discrimination on the basis of race, culture, ethnicity and religion and influence smoking as it acts as one of the social determinants of health which is associated with development of various health behaviors including smoking (Read et al. 2018).

• Previous study has indicated the stress originated through discrimination due to racism may lead to initiation of smoking.

• On the other hand increasing attacks against the religious and ethnic groups, inequality, migration, and changes in policy also impact on the physical and mental health of people and lead to initiation of smoking to reduce their stress (Read et al. 2015).

• However, it is also reported that low smoking rate has been found in some minority group while having social deprivation and disadvantages (Soneji et al. 2017). Hence it is required to introduce research to identify whether social construct such as racism influence smoking or not.

Research question

• How does racism impact smoking rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 20-25 years in Sydney?

Research aim

• To explore how racism impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 20-25 years who smoke compared to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults’ non-smokers in Sydney.

Research objectives

• To identify Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 20-25 years who smoke in Sydney.

To understand the experiences of racism among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 20-25 years.

• To explore racial discrimination and smoking among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 20-25 years.

• To address whether there is any relationship between racism and smoking rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 20-25 years in Sydney?

Interview guide

• This interview guide was developed in order to assist the exploration of the experience of adults aged 20-25 years regarding the impact of racism on the initiation of smoking. The interview will be conducted among my classmates. The responses will be used as a part of this research project and derive the result.

 

• Hi! Myself Navjot Sharma, I am a postgraduate student in University of Wollongong enrolled in Master of Public Health Advanced Course.

• Today, I would like to ask you some general questions regarding smoking and talk about any of your experiences which you think was a discrimination due to race and the other factors which have influenced you to smoke.

Method

• The pilot study has been done by recruiting 3 students in the study.

• The students have been asked several questions regarding their health behavior, their perceptions regarding racism and their views regarding the impact of racism on smoking.

• A time period of 20 minutes has been provided for each individual.

• After the interview feedback has been taken from the participants in order to identify the strength and limitation of the survey.

• The participants have been informed about the study and its importance.

• No participants have been forced to participate in the interview.

• Participants have been allowed to participate in the interview with their consent.

Strength

• All of the interviewee have completed the pilot test with interview questionnaire.

• The length of the interview was adequate for understanding the response of the participants.

• All the questions were developed based on the objectives of the study.

• The questions were reliable to understand the rate of smoking in the selected population and impact of racism on their initiation of smoking.
• Both the smokers and non-smokers were participated in the interview which has helped to compare the impact of racism on the adult smokers aged 20 to 25 years as compared to the non-smokers.

Limitation

• Only female participants have been recruited in the study, which has indicated gender bias in the study.

• Two interviewee have given negative feedback.

• One participant has said that the questions were based on smoking and she is a non-smoker, thus she does not find relevancy.

• Another participant has mentioned that there is no connection between racism and smoking in the interview questionnaire.

Conclusion

• Racism may associated with social discrimination and social disadvantages based on the race, culture, ethnicity and religious.

• More information needs to be gathered about the impact of racism on smoking.

• In order to understand the impact of racism on smoking for the selected population it is required to recruit participants from the selected population.

• Result need to be interpreted in an effective manner.

• Feedback need to be considered and relevant changes need to be done in order to make the study more effective.

• Findings of the study need to be communicated with the sample population.

References

• Bonilla-Silva, E., 2017. Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the persistence of racial inequality in America. Rowman & Littlefield. 3rd pp. 23-364.

• Kirkinis, K., Pieterse, A.L., Martin, C., Agiliga, A. and Brownell, A., 2018. Racism, racial discrimination, and trauma: a systematic review of the social science literature. Ethnicity & health, pp.1-21.

• Lê Cook, B., Wayne, G.F., Kafali, E.N., Liu, Z., Shu, C. and Flores, M., 2014. Trends in smoking among adults with mental illness and association between mental health treatment and smoking cessation. Jama, 311(2), pp.172-182.

• Öncel, S.Y., Dick, D.M., Maes, H.H. and Al?ev, F., 2014. Risk factors influencing smoking behavior: a Turkish twin study. Twin Research and Human Genetics, 17(6), pp.563-573.

• Read, U.M., Karamanos, A., Cassidy, A., Joao da Silva, M., Molaodi, O.R., Cruickshank, J.K. and Harding, S., 2015. Racism triggers smoking in British ethnic minority adolescents: evidence from the determinants of young adult social wellbeing and health (DASH) longitudinal study.

• Read, U.M., Karamanos, A., Silva, M.J., Molaodi, O.R., Enayat, Z.E., Cassidy, A., Cruickshank, J.K. and Harding, S., 2018. The influence of racism on cigarette smoking: Longitudinal study of young people in a British multiethnic cohort. PloS one, 13(1), p.e0190496.

• Soneji, S., Barrington-Trimis, J.L., Wills, T.A., Leventhal, A.M., Unger, J.B., Gibson, L.A., Yang, J., Primack, B.A., Andrews, J.A., Miech, R.A. and Spindle, T.R., 2017. Association between initial use of e-cigarettes and subsequent cigarette smoking among adolescents and young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA pediatrics, 171(8), pp.788-797.