Culture Of Smoking In Poland

Culture Of Smoking In Poland

Culture Of Smoking In Poland

This should be a 3-paragraph (at least 250–350 words) response.

This week, we will examine a case study about smokers in Poland. As noted in Levine (2007), prior to 1989, Poland had the highest rate of smoking in the world, with three-fourths of all men aged 20–60 smoking every day at a rate of 3,500 cigarettes per person per year. It should be noted that 30% of all women smoked every day, as well. This behavior resulted in a life expectancy of about 60 years due to the highest rates of lung cancer in the world and all-time high levels of smoking-related cancers and cardiovascular and respiratory disease.

To prepare for this Discussion, you will be required to read Case 14 in Levine and complete readings in Stanhope and Lancaster, then respond to the following questions:

• What happened to change the culture of smoking in Poland?
• Understanding that we all have bias when discussing health issues and precipitating factors, what social and political factors allowed cigarette smoking to become a part of the Polish culture?
• Reflecting on your own practice, how do you overcome cultural bias? Do you find it more difficult to deal with some groups than others? How do people use the cultural information that they learn about others? Do you think this leads to stereotyping? Does cultural knowledge influence or change your practice and interaction with others?

Tobacco smoking is a major risk factor for cancer, heart disease, and chronic lung disease, all of which are classified as non-communicable diseases (NCDs) [1]. The risk of acquiring tobacco-related diseases rises in direct proportion to the amount of tobacco consumed and the length of time spent smoking [1]. Stopping the tobacco epidemic would go a long way toward preventing death and disability from smoking and other tobacco products. The number of persons who start, stop, and continue smoking determines the condition of the tobacco pandemic. Since the 1970s, there have been early efforts in Poland to reduce tobacco smoking [2]. In Poland, smoking prevalence has declined significantly over several decades, with men smoking 33% and women smoking 21% in 2010 [3]. Unfortunately, the downward trend in the adult population has halted in recent years [2]. Similar trends have recently been noted in a number of other industrialized countries. Despite several efforts to prevent the tobacco pandemic, after a large decline in smoking prevalence, these efforts tend to plateau. The “hardening theory” is one of the theories that explains this phenomena. According to the “hardening theory,” as smoking prevalence declines, lighter smokers will stop first, leaving more “hardcore” smokers in the population who may have a tough time quitting [4–6]. However, the hardening theory is disputed in other publications, and there are signs that hardening occurs among treatment seekers, despite the fact that there is no clear evidence of hardening in the general population [4–8]. According to some academics, hardening happens in the sense that today’s smokers may have more trouble quitting, or are inherently less eager to do so, than previous generations [9].

As a result, a greater understanding of smoker subpopulations, such as hardcore and non-hardcore smokers, is critical in order to improve and target tobacco control strategies and further reduce smoking prevalence.

The goal of this study was to analyze the prevalence of hardcore smoking in Poland and to identify the characteristics related with hardcore smoking in comparison to non-hardcore smoking, in order to address this serious public health risk.