Getting the smoke out: Effective technical assistance for tenants facing drifting smoke in their apartment homes

Secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing is a major public health concern, and the San Mateo County Tobacco Prevention Program (TPP) has prioritized social norm change around smoke-free housing. The program developed smoke-free housing advertising, conducted outreach efforts for housing leaders, and implemented tenant and landlord smoke-free housing opinion surveys. A key message of this effort is to call TPP with questions about managing drifting smoke.

Given the many complaint and inquiry calls to the program, staff educate callers on current policies, demonstrate strategies to mediate smoke-free housing problems, and share resources to assist the tenants. Staff guide callers through a step-by-step process to encourage the callers' landlords to adopt a voluntary smoke-free policy in their housing complex.

The Tobacco Prevention Program has developed various tools, including phone call screening forms; a call tracking form that can be utilized to mobilize tenants; sample letters sent to residents, landlords, smokers, and city staff; website resources on smoke-free housing; and a local smoke-free housing fact sheet for landlords. The program has encountered several best practices for supporting tenants, including:

-Communicating a step-by-step advocacy process for tenants to resolve their issue and encouraging tenants to start at the simplest possible solution. -Ensuring correspondence directed to tenants is also cc'd to elected officials and city manager in their community to inform these leaders of the issue. -Tracking calls closely to be able to mobilize callers for future smoke-free housing advocacy opportunities. -Directing callers to the TPP website to access additional advocacy tools and resources.