This research project was led by Dr Nicola Lindson from the Oxford Tobacco Addiction Group (OxTAG), Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Services, University of Oxford. Prof Pete Bower led the work on behalf of NIHR ARC Greater Manchester.

 

 

What were we trying to do?

This research project explored, tested and evaluated ways to reduce smoking in people living in social housing in Greater Manchester, in order to meet the city-region’s aim of becoming smokefree (with less than 5% smokers) by 2030.

 

There were two main aims and two secondary aims:

 

Primary aims:

• Increase the number of people who attempted – and were successful – at quitting smoking.
• Reduce the inequalities caused by smoking.

 

Secondary aims:

• Reduce smoking in the home, which should, in turn, reduce smoke-induced ill health caused to children and vulnerable people.
• Develop a deeper understanding of what makes people in the most deprived neighbourhoods smoke, and potential solutions to help them quit.

 

 

Why was this important?

People who live in rented social housing are three times more likely to smoke than people who own their own home and people living in social housing in Greater Manchester are twice as likely to smoke than the city-region average.

 

Children who live in rented social housing with people who smoke are more than twice as likely to be exposed to second-hand smoke and they are also four times more likely to become smokers themselves.

 

Because higher numbers of people smoke in social housing, death and the diseases caused by smoking are more common in this group – in Greater Manchester, it’s expected that smoking will kill two out of three current smokers if they don’t quit.

 

So, findings ways to reduce smoking could help to decrease the number of smoking-caused illnesses and death, as well the long-term inequalities associated with smoking. It could also bring benefits to the community, such as less litter, safer homes and reduced fire risk.

 

 

How did we do it?

Between April 2020 and January 2023, as part of the Greater Manchester Make Smoking History programme, the Greater Manchester Smokefree Homes group worked with the Greater Manchester Healthy Homes Group and multiple Social Housing Providers to improve understanding of the views of smokers and non-smokers living in social housing in Greater Manchester.

 

The findings from this work were used as the basis for this project, which went on to develop new interventions to help smokers living in social housing to quit.

 

The project was carried out across six phases:

 

Phase 1: Stakeholder identification

Working with local partners and collaborators, we identified the most important people and organisations to include in the project.

 

Phase 2: Stakeholder engagement and consultation

We held a workshop where we shared the research findings from the Make Smoking History programme and began discussions around how to reduce the barriers to quitting smoking. A survey was carried out to encourage a wide range of input into the core discussions.

 

Phase 3: Protocol development

We worked with stakeholders to co-design a protocol explaining what we were doing and how we planned to evaluate it, taking into account existing evidence and the findings from phase 2.

 

Phase 4: Intervention piloting

Based on the work done in phases 2 and 3, we piloted and evaluated the new interventions designed to change the smoking behaviours of social housing residents in Greater Manchester.

 

Phase 5: Service evaluation

The findings from phase 4 were evaluated to understand whether the interventions were suitable for use in the real world and whether people were willing to use them.

 

Phase 6: Interpretation and write-up

A report has been written explaining the findings from the project, which has been shared with stakeholders and partners, and will be shared more widely following the development of a promotion plan with the Greater Manchester Make Smoking History team.

 

 

Findings

Findings from this project will be shared in due course. 

 

 

Who did we work with?

This project was a collaboration between:

• Oxford Tobacco Addiction Group
• Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
• NIHR ARC Greater Manchester

 

 

Funding information

This project was funded over a 24-month period by the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership.

 

 

More information

 

 

 

Programme Manager
Gill Rizzello
gill.rizzello@manchester.ac.uk