Reducing exposure to second-hand smoke in the home

While smoke-free public places have been a great success, many of Scotland’s children are still regularly exposed to second-hand smoke (SHS) in the home.

Exposure to SHS is associated with a range of diseases including asthma, respiratory infections, meningitis and cot death.

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 children and many parents who smoke already take some action. However we know that parents often do not understand enough about the way that tobacco smoke behaves and the harm it causes and so welcome information and support.  

Our services

Recent years have shown a huge culture shift, strongly driven by effective information, support and encouragement that has been avaliable to families.

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. 

• 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 (see below) for early years professionals to enable them to deliver second-hand smoke awareness sessions for parents and carers.

• We work with networks to raise awareness of the benefits of supporting smoke-free homes and guidance on how to do so.

•  Scotland’s Charter for a Tobacco-Free Generation states “Children have a particular need for a smoke-free environment”.  Over 360 organisations have pledged action to help create a tobacco-free Scotland and your organisation can sign up and pledge support as well.

• Support from ASH Scotland 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. 

Second-hand smoke activities and resource pack

An activities and resource pack for delivering second-hand smoke awareness sessions for parents

This free resource is for early years and family support workers, enabling you to run a session talking to parents about the harm caused by tobacco smoke in the home, and what they can do to protect their families.

ASH Scotland has designed this trainer’s pack of activities and resources for early years practitioners who work directly with parent of young children. The pack is designed for use in parent sessions or parent classes rather than in a one-to-one setting.

The sessions cover the following key topics:

• Harmful chemicals in a cigarette and SHS
• What is SHS and how is it measured
• Health risks to children exposed to SHS
• Myths or misconceptions that parents/carers have about SHS
• Benefits to making a home smoke-free
• Challenges to making a home smoke-free and solutions to overcome these
• Action plan for making a home smoke-free

Please contact jbuchan@ashscotland.org.uk for more information or to request a downloadable version of the full pack.

Other resources: 

The Scottish Government's 'take it right outside' mass media campaign (2014 and 2016) provides guidance on taking any smoking right outside. The website is still active and available for parents and support workers.

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