Smoking and Unemployment: A Photo Elicitation Project.

Research has documented higher smoking prevalence with unemployment and greater difficulty with gaining re-employment for those who smoke. Using photo elicitation methods, we sought to gain a deeper understanding of the connection between job-seeking and tobacco use. Unemployed daily smokers (18 men, 1 woman) were recruited from the San Francisco Employment Development Department (EDD) and provided disposable cameras with 27 exposures and a list of 20 photo prompts related to job-seeking and tobacco. Study staff reviewed the photos with the participants and audio-recorded their narratives. The photos and narratives were coded for themes. Of 363 photos, the most frequent photo imagery related to transportation (n = 56, 15.4%), work or education (n = 39, 10.7%), and littered cigarettes (n = 39, 10.7%). Narrated themes centered on motivators to quit smoking (255 mentions from 15 participants); people, places, and things associated with smoking (248 mentions, 16 participants); and motivators to secure work (157 mentions, 13 participants). The intersection of smoking and unemployment received 92 mentions from 11 participants, with 60 mentions (8 participants) identifying smoking as a barrier to re-employment. Both motivators to quit and associated smoking cues were salient in the environments of job-seeking smokers. Struggles with quitting and perceptions that smoking is harming re-employment success suggest the potential for offering tobacco treatment in EDD settings. With permission, the photos and themes have been incorporated into a tobacco treatment intervention for job-seeking smokers.

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© The Author(s) 2020.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Declaration of Conflicting Interests:The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Dr. Prochaska has provided consultation to pharmaceutical and technology companies that make medications and other treatments for quitting smoking and has served as an expert witness in lawsuits against the tobacco companies. The other authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.