title: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health, Behaviour and Society, Institute for Global Tobacco Control, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2213 Mc Elderry Street, 4th Floor, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA. rdkennedy@jhu.edu.|Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada. rdkennedy@jhu.edu.
authors.forename: Ryan David
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.affiliation: Public Health and Emergency Services, Region of Waterloo, Cambridge, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ellens-Clark
authors.affiliation: Public Health and Emergency Services, Region of Waterloo, Cambridge, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nagge
authors.affiliation: Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Ornell
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.affiliation: Propel Centre for Population Health Impact, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Cheryl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Madill
authors.affiliation: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Ontario Tobacco Research Unit, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.|Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kaufman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002170:Canada; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011638:Public Housing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D061845:Smoke-Free Policy; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution
keywords: Community housing; Second-hand smoke; Smoking; Social housing; Tobacco control