Smoke-free policies for multi-unit housing: A descriptive comparison of the perceptions and experiences of landlords and tenants

Background: Despite the adverse health effects of environmental tobacco smoke, the majority of multi-unit housing (MUH) landlords allow some degree of smoking in their properties. While important advances have been made in promoting smoke-free public places, less attention has been paid to promoting smoke-free policies for MUH. The lack of information on the barriers property owners perceive regarding smoke-free policies, along with information regarding tenant preferences for such policies, has made public education and social marketing difficult. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess local availability of and market demand for smoke-free MUH among landlords and tenants. The information was used by a community coalition to inform their advocacy efforts with local MUH landlords toward the goal of voluntary smoke-free policies. Methods: Between 2008 and 2010, two telephone surveys were conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of local landlords (N=118) and tenants (N=1,000) around smoke-free policies in MUH. Measures included: landlord policies toward smoking, effects of smoke-free policies on rental properties, tenant experiences with and beliefs about environmental tobacco smoke, and demand for smoke-free policies in MUH. Results: The perceptions of landlords who have not implemented smoke-free policies for their properties were inconsistent with the experiences of landlords who have implemented such policies. Also, tenants' experiences and preferences for smoke-free policies differed from those of landlords. The results of this study have implications for the strategies and messaging used by groups working with landlords and tenants to promote smoke-free policies in MUH.