The design of a smokefree home leaflet and home pack: a Guernsey case study

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to explore the beliefs and attitudes of young mothers in relation to smokefree homes and passive smoke in Guernsey, and to encourage them to contribute to the designing of a smokefree home leaflet and pack aimed at young mothers.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured interviews were conducted with 11 participants (aged 17‐23 years).FindingsMost participants were smokers, however, they all knew what passive smoke was and asserted that their homes were smokefree. Even if they were unable to list specific impacts of second hand smoke on children, they all agreed that children should be protected. A few of them described the difficulties in telling people not to smoke around their children in other people's homes and in cars. Moreover, some young mothers said that they found it hard to persuade their partners not to smoke around the children.Originality/valueThis paper presents the respondents ideas for promoting and supporting smokefree homes for young mothers and informing a smokefree home leaflet and home pack: providing information about passive smoking during parenting sessions, preferably after the baby has been born; giving parents a pack with giveaways linked to smokefree homes; encouraging parents to be assertive to friends and family who try to smoke around children; and getting both partners involved.