Meet Matt

Why did the Ruah Centre decide to become smoke free?

In August 2013 the Ruah Centre closed for 8 weeks while processes and some staff changed, resulting in a whole new way of working with clients. Part of these changes was introducing a smoke free policy. Prior to the closure, clients were able to smoke in our outside courtyard area. This meant that a lot of people were congregating outside in the smoking area, because it was convenient, it was there. What we were finding was that there were a lot of altercations. People were trying to 'bum' smokes off each other which led to friction. It was also difficult to identify dealings as it’s hard to tell the difference between a rollie and a doobie. Clients and staff who didn’t smoke couldn’t go into that area, which wasn’t fair. It just didn’t really promote a safe and neutral environment. What we really wanted to do was create a safe space for clients and a smoke free environment was part of that.

What process did you take to implement the smoke free policy?

When the centre closed there was a big client feedback session, a lot of things were raised around client safety and we got their input into what they wanted around the centre. One of the topics we discussed was the smoke free policy. We gave them the reasons why we were going smoke free – OH&S, less friction, protecting non-smokers, trying to send a positive message. It wasn’t put to them as “would you prefer it or not”, we were always going to do it.

Before we reopened we hired security for the centre. We deliberately hired a firm that doesn’t look, sound or act like security. The whole point of their role is to know the clients. They’re meant to sit with clients and have a game of chess or a chat. If a client does something that we don’t deem appropriate, (like smoking) security can go up and have a chat with them. Because security staff have built rapport, they can address any issue in a less confrontational manner. People feel safe, they know the rules and if they don’t abide by them out they go.

When we re-opened the security’s role was also to ask people to sign a rights and responsibility document on their first visit to the centre. Part of those rights and responsibilities are that clients will behave themselves, including agreeing not to smoke on our premises. We gave people a choice that they could agree to sign and abide by our rights and responsibilities, or choose not to sign it and not come in. It didn’t affect our numbers in the least.

The new policy was put to staff. They were told what to do if they saw someone smoking. We tried to empower staff to monitor smoking in the centre. The staff have their colleagues to support them and when we re-opened they knew security was also there to help if someone was found smoking. Some staff were hesitant, but again we tried to empower them. Staff wrote their own job roles in the centre, which gave them ownership and accountability of their roles. These roles included monitoring the courtyard where people used to smoke. If they were comfortable, they would go and speak to a person that was found smoking. If not, the security or I would. Over time, people became more comfortable.

In the first instance we were lenient to people that were found smoking. Once we had that interim period of people getting used to the idea of the centre being smoke free, we then had zero tolerance “You light up, you’re out”, simple as that. You’re out for the day and you come back tomorrow. Then it became a standard thing and I can’t remember the last time someone lit up here.

When we re-opened it was a whole new centre. We weren’t focusing on smokers; it was more about improving the site. Being smoke free was only a small part of improving the site. Prior to opening we didn’t have half the services we do now – BBQs, pool competitions, computers, events etc.

Have clients adjusted to the smoke free policy?

Some still try to smoke out the front of the building, but we tell them to go across the road. Smoking out the front is not a great image and there is a block of units that we don’t like people smoking near, out of respect for our neighbours. So, we ask people to move across the road. Our security also has that mandate of moving people across the road. The old response was “You can’t tell us what to do out here”. This is absolutely right, but what we can do is restrict people from coming into the centre so, people can choose to go across the road or choose not to come back into our service and therefore, have no access to showers, doctors and things like that.

We have also raised our smoke free policy a few times in our client meetings that we conduct every month, reiterating why people need to not smoke in front of our building and encouraging them to also move people across the road. Clients are pulling each other up a little bit more but they don’t like to do it too much as there can be ramifications, but it’s more about reminding people, not telling them what to do.

Have staff received any training?

We have done smoking cessation training with staff and I think they are more comfortable talking to people about smoking, or potentially, now they see it as a major issue. Before, they probably thought it was one of the vices that people had to cope with everything else in their lives. I think the mind-set changed after seeing the results from some surveys we did with clients. The surveys showed that a huge population smoke, which we knew, but what we didn't know was that 60% of the actual population want to quit, and another 70% want to cut down. Clients were surveyed directly from here, so it wasn’t information we were getting from elsewhere, they were our client group, and our client group are saying “We would like assistance in quitting”. Our mandate here is to try to assist the needs of our clients. If smoking is on their list, then that’s on us and we need to bring it up in conversation. Upon putting it into practice, we do it anyway. We already talk to clients about all kinds of stuff what their drinking is like, what their finances are like - smoking is no different.

The way I do it is to put it into conversations about people’s finances. Cigarettes are on around 80% of our client’s list and they think they can’t go without them. So you start the dialogue of how much they spend on cigarettes, around $20 a pack, then let them know that if they’re on Centrelink they can get patches for around $6 a month, something they often didn’t know and can consider. It can be something as simple saying “Did you know you could get a month’s worth of patches for around $6?”  A lot of people often think it is more expensive, but actually it’s much more accessible. It’s not any extra work for us to talk to people about smoking.

We also work very closely with Homeless Healthcare. Homeless Healthcare was pivotal in our staff training. They are quite respected in the community and having the GP for the client group speak directly to staff saying “clients want help” and “it’s killing them” was quite powerful for staff. Everyone respects this service because they see the toughest clients over and over again. For them to say the biggest killer is homelessness and the second biggest killer is smoking was powerful. It’s not any extra work for us to talk to people about smoking, Homeless Healthcare are the ones that will do the work, our job is to get people there.

What did staff think about providing clients with support to quit smoking?

Some people thought it wasn’t part of their job and they thought they would have to counsel clients. But, what we have said is that they don’t have to counsel, they just bring it up in conversation, plant a seed, it will take them less than 3 minutes.

We just need to remind staff to bring it up and create a space that if clients want to talk about it; it’s something they can bring up. It’s often one of the biggest expenses on a client’s list, it’s the biggest health concern, yet staff often consider it to be the last thing a client is going to want to do. Obviously getting people off the streets is our priority, but we can also talk to people about smoking in our everyday work. Just by bringing it up in conversation and making it every day language.

Have you noticed any changes since being smoke free?

Since we’ve been smoke free there have been less fights and dealings, and we’re actually able to do activities outside where we never used to. The outside area is now one of the quieter spaces which is nice when you need to have a chat with a client. We’re actually going to install a pond and water feature just to make it a nice tranquil place. We’ve changed it from plastic chair, smoky horrible area, to a nice, clear and smoke free environment.

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