Frontiers in Public Health (Oct 2015)
Right Here Right Now: Developing an understanding of responses to smoking policy developments using online data collection in near to real time
Abstract
Background: Health policymakers require timely evidence to inform decision-making, however, rapid social change often outpaces the capacity of traditional approaches to research to produce meaningful insights. The pervasion of mobile technologies and internet access offers opportunities for capturing context specific and near real-time data on people’s perceptions, behaviours and everyday experiences that could usefully inform decision-making. The Right Here Right Now pilot study was established to provide insights into public responses to, and lived experiences of, contemporary social and health issues. From May to October 2015, a cohort of 180 adults living in Glasgow were asked weekly questions. These questions were developed with decision-makers working in health and social policy or in response to topical newsworthy public health issues that arose. The questions were delivered through an online system and allowed participants to answer directly by website, SMS or post. Aim: An issue that was of high public health policy interest and debate during this period was the need for further tobacco and nicotine control. The aim of this study was to explore the potential of using an online data collection system with a cohort of Glasgow residents to provide rapid insights into public opinion on such policy developments. Method: Three smoking/vaping related questions were sent out to Right Here Right Now participants over the course of the study. The questions were in four parts, first a multiple choice question and then three qualitative follow-up questions based on participants’ responses to part one. The questions were developed with stakeholders working in health advocacy and policy development. They focused on: perceptions of the pervasion of e-cigarettes; legislation on smoking in cars carrying children; and reflections on ten years of the ‘smoking ban’ in enclosed public places. Results: The response rate ranged from 45% to 55% (65 – 78 participants). In relation to e-cigarettes most participants described seeing e-cigarettes as a matter of course, a mundane and quickly adopted feature of social life, particularly outdoors and especially in the street. The responses offered a range of drivers for e-cigarette use, and the varied references to health reflect the complex and often competing public narratives of health risk and benefit surrounding e-cigarettes. By contrast responses to legislation prohibiting smoking in cars carrying children and the legacy of the ‘smoking ban’ in enclosed public spaces showed almost universal support. Almost all participants responded by reproducing well-rehearsed and coherent statements around the harms of second-hand smoke. Conclusions: The Right Here Right Now system was able to provide rapid insights into people’s perceptions of ongoing debates around tobacco and nicotine use, and associated policy developments/legislative proposals. The system can provide a barometer for public support for proposed legislation, and its acceptability as a means of changing health behaviours. It can also offer insights for policy development which require further nuanced understanding.
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