Seven 10 Kate Blackburn, Public Health Specialty Registrar Sarah Heathcote, Public Health Commissioning Manager, Bath & North East Somerset

Seven 10 The impact of a college-led social norms project on the perception of smoking amongst students at Bath City College.

Outline of session Smoking and Young People Bath City College Social Norms Theory Ownership and Production Methodology Results Conclusions Limitations Next steps

Smoking and Young People Estimated annual costs to society of smoking in Bath & NE Somerset £39.9 million (ASH) Cigarette smoking is most often initiated during adolescence Importance of understanding the social context of smoking initiation among young people Benefit in focusing efforts on influencing young adults to quit as evidence of encouraging cessation rates among this group

Bath City College 2010 survey >50% students smoking, of these 21% started whilst at the college 2012 survey 35% smoking prevalence (17% started at college) DPH Award provided a process for the college to set, measure, and achieve outcomes Context of college becoming smoke free by 2020 Commissioners keen to show case a ‘whole college’ initiative

Social Norms Theory Social norms approach was first suggested in 1986 (Perkins & Berkowitz, 1986) Our behaviour is influenced by incorrect perceptions of how other members of our social group think or act. ‘Misperception’ is the term used to describe the gap between actual attitudes and behaviours and what people THINK the true attitudes and behaviours are. Promotion of accurate perceptions to influence positive behaviour change.

Ownership & production Ownership at senior level within college Opportunity for the college to work as a whole setting across departments and with students and a wide range of partners ‘Setting the guinea pigs free’ (Smith & Henry, 2009) deliberate shift away from top-down instigated change -enabling the college to ‘do’ by developing skills and confidence and the conditions to ‘try it out’. Development of other benefits including skills, confidence and enthusiasm.

Methodology Baseline online survey Perception that 56% of students smoke – actually 28%. 65% of smokers wanted to quit, 31% would like help. Student engagement and ideas Brand identification Delivery Final survey Local media coverage

Press & Posters

Facebook campaign

Coffee Cups

Results Initial survey found that students believed 56% of their peers smoked (CI 51% - 61%) Final survey found that this had now changed to a belief that 43% of their peers smoked (CI 36% - 50) which would suggest a significant shift in perception. 45 new drop ins for initial consultation for smoking cessation, 40 returned for a second appointment.

Conclusions Encouraging results but what is long term impact on shift in perception? Setting the guinea pigs free – the benefits of co-production in the field of social marketing/social norms Need for further research to assess impact on behaviour and to explore the interplay of social and environmental factors on students future smoking trajectories

Limitations Sustaining Senior leadership commitment Coordination of such a large staff and student body Timescales for delivery Systems for tracking quitters in the future

Any questions?