SMOKING AMONG ABORIGINAL HEALTH-WORKERS - FINDINGS OF A 1995 SURVEY IN WESTERN NEW-SOUTH-WALES

As part of the Western NSW Aboriginal Smoking Project (1995) a self-ad ministered questionnaire surveyed regional Aboriginal health workers ( AHWs) about their tobacco use and their awareness of smoking related h ealth issues. The aim was to provide baseline information to guide the development of project interventions. The majority of respondents smo ked. Among the smokers most said that they would like to quit smoking, and all said that they had tried to quit. All the smokers were intere sted in assistance to help them quit, and were interested in assistanc e to help them help others in their communities to quit. AHWs are a pr ofessional group whose smoking rates might typify that of their commun ities, and in the future they might provide indications of smoking tre nds in their communities.