Chapter 11 370 Interviews Interview participant characteristics Eighty smoking employees were approached for an interview on participation, of whom 28 expressed interest and provided contact details. After multiple emails and phone calls, interviews were conducted with 15 employees. The interviews lasted between 15 and 30 minutes. Table 3 presents the sample characteristics. Open and selective coding resulted in four main dimensions of reasons for nonparticipation: motivation to quit smoking, perspective on help or stimulation during smoking cessation, characteristics of the PERSIST program, and perspective on the employer. To distinguish between trial participants and interview participants the latter will be referred to as respondents. Motivation to quit smoking Initially, the majority of respondents stated “not wanting to quit smoking” as the major reason for not joining the PERSIST programme. However, follow-up answers indicated that only three out of 15 respondents did not wish to quit at all. All others wished to quit smoking in the future but not now. Most respondents had tried to quit smoking before, and some had successfully remained abstinent from smoking for weeks and some for months. Respondents frequently expressed fears that quitting smoking would create additional stress in their lives, that it was simply not the right moment, or that they did not feel strong enough to do it now, as for example mentioned by Employee eight: Employee 8 (Female; smokes “half to one” pack a day): “There are just so many different things happening in my life right now, and I know it sounds like an excuse, but it is just not the right moment. I think you need to have a calm and stable life first before… before being able to quit.”. In addition, respondents experienced benefits of smoking, especially in the workplace. Smoking breaks were not only perceived as calming but also as bonding moments with colleagues or patients and their relatives: Employee 12 (Female; 0.5 pack a day): “It calms me down. I go outside when my head is full. I smoke my cigarette and think: okay, breathe in, breathe out, now back to work again.” Employee 15 (Female; smokes “a lot”): “Sometimes when a parent just received bad news about their child, it is a good way to take them out of the situation by saying: let’s go outside together for a cigarette. You see people get more relaxed and feel at ease.”
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