A Smoke-Free Community Housing Policy: Changes in Reported Smoking Behaviour—Findings from Waterloo Region, Canada

Abstract

In 2010, Waterloo Region Housing (Canada) enacted a smoke-free (SF) housing policy that made all new leases in their community-housing portfolio (2722 units) 100 % SF. Existing lease holders were 'grandfathered'-meaning tenants could still smoke in their homes. A survey to measure support for the policy and how the policy had impacted smoking behaviour was delivered to all 2722 households in the Waterloo Region Housing portfolio in 2010 (pre-policy), 2011 and 2013 (post-policy). The proportion of households that completed the survey was 26 % (n = 717) in 2010, 25 % (n = 685) in 2011, and 23 % (n = 619) in 2013. Support for the SF housing policy was 72 % pre-enactment (2010), and increased to 78 % in 2011 and 79 % in 2013; however, most smokers do not support the policy. In 2010, prior to the SF policy, 65 % of tenants who smoke reported someone smoked inside their home; in 2013 this was reduced to approximately half of smokers (52 %). In 2013, 44 % of smokers reported smoking outside more often than before the SF policy was enacted, almost half of tenants with a smoke-free lease (46 %) and more than a third of tenants who have a grandfathered lease (34 %) reported they smoke less since the smoke-free policy. There has been no significant change in the proportion of respondents (>50 %) who reported being exposed to second-hand smoke in their home. This SF housing policy is associated with increased reported outdoor smoking and reduced smoking. Smoke-free policies may support smokers interested in quitting.

Impact of smoke-free housing policy lease exemptions on compliance, enforcement and smoking behavior: A qualitative study

“…In partnership with ROWPH, free cessation support services were offered to tenants. ( McCammon-Tripp and Stitch, 2010 ; Kennedy et al, 2015 ).…”

Smoke-free home initiative in Bantul, Indonesia: Development and preliminary evaluation

“…However, people in the hamlet have the characteristic of being easy to receive new knowledge that is considered beneficial so that when the SFH initiative was introduced, the reception was welcoming. Even smokers supported the SFH initiative because they were aware of the dangers for their loved ones 12 . This is indicated by the relatively small (19%) proportion of smokers who smoked near family members in the hamlet compared, for instance, with Bantul district with 68% 17 .…”

“…The SFH initiative has been developed in several countries, but the results vary. Experiences in high-income countries show that SFH is an effective means of reducing levels of cigarette consumption and increasing the likelihood of quitting smoking [11][12][13] . Experiences in LMICs such as India and Indonesia, especially in urban areas, indicate that the SFH initiative reduces smoking behaviour in homes and increases smokers' readiness to stop smoking [14][15][16] .…”

Changes in smokers’ behavior following the implementation of a smoke-free apartment-building legislation

“…The results showed that more than half of the smokers had decreased their smoking amount since the policy was implemented, while 14.7% of the smokers had succeeded in quitting 5 . Since the smoke-free housing policy was implemented in Waterloo, Canada, about a third of smokers therein reported a decrease in their cigarette consumption 6 .…”