Evaluation of Syrian youth use experiences of tobacco products and hookahs in terms of protective and preventive social work interventions: The case of Izmir

Tobacco products and hookah are substances that are used by different age groups for various reasons and pose a risk to public health. Tobacco products that do not have a safe use affect not only individuals but also society and cause different social problems to be seen together. Various practices are developed by countries in order to prevent the use of tobacco products and the problems they cause. These practices cover all individuals in the country, but there is no separate policy for individuals with immigration experience. Accordingly, associating the tobacco product use of Syrian youth with forced migration experience with current practices is important in terms of guiding practices regarding tobacco use behaviors in their lives in the newly settled country. The general purpose of this research is to evaluate the tobacco use experiences of Syrian youth in terms of protective and preventive practices. In this study, which proceeds in a chronological pattern, it is aimed to determine the tobacco product use experiences of young people before, during and after migration, by their own narratives, taking into account the process of acquaintance with tobacco products and the time of use of tobacco products. In addition, their thoughts on protective and preventive practices and the relationship of these thoughts with experiences were tried to be determined. Ecological theory was used in the research. In this study, qualitative research method was used and phenomenological design was chosen. Participants were reached through purposeful sampling and snowball sampling. In-depth interviews were conducted with 20 Syrian youth aged 18-24, living in Izmir, continuing to use tobacco products, and holding temporary protection status. Interviews were conducted between November and December 2022 through a semi-structured questionnaire and accompanied by an interpreter. The obtained data were analyzed with thematic analysis method using the MAXQDA22 program. According to the results of the research, it was observed that the use of tobacco products started when young people were under the age of 18, usually due to factors related to the microsystem. It was concluded that participants who used tobacco products before migration generally used them to socialize, provide psychological relief and spend their spare time. It has been determined that the conditions in the migration process, where multiple problems are experienced together, have an effect on the tobacco product use experiences of the youth. The reasons for tobacco use after migration varied as individual, psychological, cognitive, physical, affective, macro reasons and the effect of the social environment. Thoughts on protective and preventive practices are divided into two as positive and negative. In the light of the data obtained, protective and preventive micro, mezzo and macro level suggestions were made for tobacco control.