Housing evidence / case study · working draft
South Leeds Smoke-Free Homes
Schools, health services and community events encouraged smoke-free homes.
01 / THE APPROACH
What was tried
South Leeds Smoke-Free Homes worked through schools, health services and community events in Beeston over six months. Families were encouraged to agree restrictions on smoking inside their homes to protect others from smoke.
The school element helped children introduce the idea at home and discuss it with adults. Households could make a smoke-free-home promise, with telephone follow-up used to ask whether they were maintaining it.
The evaluation combined surveys with discussions with parents and children, so it looked both at reported household rules and whether families found the approach acceptable.
02 / THE FINDINGS
What was learned
Surveys covered 318 households before and 217 after the intervention. The proportion reporting completely smoke-free homes increased from 35% to 68%.
Parents and children particularly valued the school element. Among people followed up three months after making a promise, 90% said they were keeping it. These are self-reported home rules from an uncontrolled evaluation, not verified smoking-cessation results or proof that the project caused all the observed change.
03 / TRANSFER TO WALES
What Wales could learn
Schools, health services and community events offered several routes into a family conversation. Households could make a promise, with follow-up asking whether it was being maintained.
Parents and children valued the school element. The example concerns practical changes to smoking at home, with self-reported rules rather than verified quitting.
Sources & review
Alwan et al. Can a community-based smoke-free homes intervention persuade families to apply smoking restrictions at homes? Journal of Public Health 33(1):48–54. Public publisher abstract checked 22 October 2026.
