The unintended negative consequences of smoke-free legislation for some suggest that tobacco control strategies need to consider how smokers who experience increased stigma are supported by public health to address their smoking while continuing to create smoke-free environments.

Objective To explore the accounts of smokers and nonsmokers (who live with smokers) of smoking in their homes and cars after the Scottish smoke-free legislation; to examine the reported impact of the legislation on smoking in the home; and to consider the implications for future initiatives aimed at reducing children's exposure to secondhand smoke in the home. Design and setting A qualitative cross sectional study involving semistructured interviews conducted across Scotland shortly after the implementation of the legislation on 26 March 2006. Participants A purposively selected sample of 50 adults (aged 18-75) drawn from all socioeconomic groups, included smokers living with smokers, smokers living with non-smokers, and non-smokers living with smokers.

Providing mothers who smoke with personalised results about the indoor air quality of their homes along with a motivational interview is feasible and has an effect on improving household air quality. Participants found the intervention understandable and acceptable. Taken overall, the results suggest that a future large-scale trial using measurements of indoor air quality as part of a complex intervention to reduce children's SHS exposure should be explored.

The protection of children from secondhand smoke in their homes remains a key objective for health agencies worldwide. While research has explored how parents can influence the introduction of home smoking restrictions, less attention has been paid to the role of wider familial and social networks as conduits for positive behaviour changes. In this article we explore how people living in Scotland have introduced various home smoking restrictions to reduce or eliminate children's exposure to tobacco smoke, and how some have gone on to influence people in their wider familial and social networks. The results suggest that many parents are willing to act on messages on the need to protect children from smoke, leading to the creation of patterns of smoking behaviour that are passed on to their parents and siblings and, more widely, to friends and visitors. However, while some parents and grandparents apparently voluntarily changed their smoking behaviour, other parents found that they had to make direct requests to family members and some needed to negotiate more forcefully to protect children, albeit often with positive results.

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Preschool children's exposure to SHS in homes where the mother smokes is considerable. Interventions and policy development to increase parental awareness of the health effects of SHS and provide parents with the confidence to implement smoke-free households are required to reduce the SHS exposure of preschool age children.

This article explores mothers' narratives of changing home smoking behaviours after participating in an intervention (Reducing Families' Exposure to Smoking in the Home [REFRESH]) aimed at reducing families' exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) in homes in Scotland. An analysis of qualitative findings illuminates quantitative changes in levels of SHS exposure. Prospective quantitative and qualitative data were drawn from 21 smoking mothers with at least one child under 6 years. Quantitative change was measured by home air quality, i.e. fine particulate matter <2.5μg (PM(2.5)). These measurements guided the organization of mothers into categories of change (smoke-free home at baseline [SFB], smoke-free home at final, some change and no change [NC]). Qualitative data from 17 mothers with non-SFB were analysed thematically within and across these categories. Three comparative case studies illustrate the varying changes made, barriers to change and how mothers valued such changes. The outcomes varied post-intervention, with homes smoke-free, partially smoke-free or making NC. The changes in home smoking behaviour were incremental, yet beneficial to reducing SHS exposure, and related to the nature of the restrictions and personal circumstances in the home pre-intervention. Across all change categories, mothers valued the changes they had made and expressed an intention to increase the changes.

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