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A6259 - Proposal for Smoke-Free Public Housing: A Review of Attitudes and Preferences from Residents of Multi-Unit Housing
Author Block: P. Galiatsatos1, R. Koehl1, C. Caufield-Noll2, E. Brigham3, F. Leone4, N. Hansel5, C. Rand5, M. McCormack6; 1Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, 2Harrison Medical Library, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, United States, 3Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States, 4University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 5Johns Hopkins Univ, Baltimore, MD, United States, 6John Hopkins Univ, Baltimore, MD, United States.
Background: Public housing units are a source of secondhand smoking exposure, putting many individuals at risk for health-related effects from secondhand smoke exposure. A recent policy proposal to ban public housing smoking indoors has received much support, but it is unclear how certain affected groups, specifically smokers in public housing units, perceive such a policy. Purpose: To review the literature on attitudes and perceptions of public housing unit tenants, dichotomized into non-smokers and smokers, towards an indoor tobacco-free public housing policy. Data Sources: English-language articles identified through MEDLINE (Embase.com), CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO (EBSCOhost), PubMed,and Cochrane Library databases, published between January 1, 1960 and November 1, 2016 were searched for articles regarding attitudes, preferences and smoking ban enforcement on tobacco free public housing units. Study Selection: Two reviewers independently selected studies that compared attitudes and opinions about smoke-free public housing units as well as studies reviewing the success of enforcement of smoke-free public housing policies. Studies were included if they were conducted in the United States, the study population included tenants of multi-housing units, and the study reported on the tenants’ attitudes and preferences of smoke-free multi-housing units. Data Extraction: A multistep process was used to assist in identifying appropriate articles. Two reviewers independently screened titles, then abstracts, and then full text for relevance. Data Synthesis: We identified and included 14 articles that were published between 2003-2016. A total of 11,286 participants were included in these 14 studies, 2290 (20.3%) of whom were smokers. In brief, non-smoking policies, specifically within housing units, were heavily favored by non-smokers (majority surveyed) and were heavily opposed by current smokers (minority of those surveyed). The few studies that explored the attitudes beyond simply endorsing or opposing smoking bans identified themes that included secondhand smoke incursions, fear of harm from secondhand smoke, and desire to quit smoking. Conclusion: Studies investigating attitudes and beliefs regarding public housing smoking bans largely represent the views of non-smokers and lack data regarding the barriers and concerns of tenants who do not support a smoke-free policies. In order to implement smoke free public housing policies, more work is needed to understand the perspectives of all resident stakeholders, especially in regards to how to best implement such a policy.