Views on smoking from people living in housing association homes

In early 2025, we started a project to hear from people living in housing association homes. We wanted to understand their smoking habits, their thoughts on messaging around smoking and their views on the free stop smoking service offered by the NHS.

The aim was to gather insights to shape targeted stop-smoking messaging campaigns, starting in summer 2025.

Key findings:

• Residents were most persuaded by messages highlighting the physical health and money-saving benefits of stopping smoking
• Residents found messaging around the mental health benefits of stopping smoking were less persuasive ‍
• When looking for advice on quitting, most residents would turn to trusted sources like doctors, pharmacists, family, and friends, or use the free NHS stop smoking service
• Alongside traditional stop smoking services, residents expressed a need for additional support to help them quit vaping.
  

Feedback from local people is being shared with local public health teams and decision-makers to help tailor the stop smoking messages and improve services offered in Derbyshire.

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