Reducing families' exposure to second-hand smoke in the home

The 2016 Scottish Health Survey reports that for those living in the least deprived quintile areas, 1% of children are exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) at home whereas the figure is 15% for those living in the most deprived quintile areas.

The Scottish government set out to reduce children's exposure to SHS from 11% in 2014 to 6% by 2020. This goal was reached in 2015, however, as the figures suggest, more work is needed in Scotland's most deprived areas.

Children are particularly susceptible to the health impacts of second-hand smoke as they have smaller airways and breathe faster and their immune systems are still developing. They may also be less able to remove themselves from smoky environments. 

Creating a smoke-free home is not always easy.  Parents who smoke want to protect their kids, but often lack the knowledge about how smoke works or what they need to do to. Knowing that tobacco lingers in the air and moves from room to room we encourage all families to protect their children by making their home completely smoke-free.   

What are we doing?

The fact that the Scottish Government target was reached five years early shows a huge culture shift, strongly driven by effective information, support and encouragement that has been avaliable to families over recent years.  

• A Scottish Government's mass media campaign (2014 and 2016) provided guidance on taking any smoking right outside and their take it right outside website is still active and available for parents and support workers to access.
• In support of this campaign ASH Scotland provided national SHS training for early years professionals who work with parents, and although the face-to-face training has now reached the end of the funding period, the course is still available as an eLearning module.
• ASH Scotland have created a tailor made activities and resources pack for early years professionals to enable them to deliver second-hand smoke awareness sessions for parents/carers.
• We work with networks such as the Children and Young People Improvement Collaborative to raise awareness of the benefits of supporting smoke-free homes and guidance on how to do so.
• Our support is available, on request, to work with family support services to improve their own policy and practice, enabling them to integrate smoke-free homes support into their activities. 
• One of the six principles in Scotland’s Charter for a Tobacco-Free Generation states “Children have a particular need for a smoke-free environment”.  Over 150 organisations have pledged action to help create a tobacco-free Scotland and your organisation can sign up and pledge your support as well.

Our role is to encourage and enable support to families who wish to make their homes smoke-free, working with family support organisations who have built up working relationships with parents in their communities. 

Available resources: 

• for information about how to protect your family from tobacco smoke at home and in the car download the free ASH Scotland guide: Protect your family from tobacco smoke in your home and car
• the archive of the REFRESH project contains a great deal of information on supporting parents to make their homes smoke-free the How To Guide is an excellent practical guide for professionals working with parents
• a pocket version of the REFRESH guide is also available, with hard copies on request.

For more information contact: enquiries@ashscotland.org.uk