Smoking Cessation

Studies of six diverse communities in Chicago, poor women under welfare reform and Medicaid recipients as well as a focus group of seniors concerning smoking cessation showed that 1) populations do vary in their smoking behavior and ability to stop smoking and 2) programs must be developed to target specific demographics.

Although prior studies showed that poorer individuals have worse health, comparatively less research has been conducted specifically on a subgroup of this population -- single mothers receiving welfare. Kaplan et. al. (2005) hypothesized that the health of these women is not only at risk, but that the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act in 1996, made this problematic situation even worse. The researchers thus compared the health of single mothers from Michigan who were impacted by welfare reform with a nationally representative sample of women.

Results indicated that current smoking rates were higher and smoking cessation...
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