Community-level, user-friendly interventions to improve compliance with a smokefree multiunit housing ordinance

Employing a strategic approach to reduce secondhand smoke exposure, Richmond, California became one of the first U.S. cities to enact a citywide ordinance that makes it illegal to smoke tobacco products or marijuana in and around multiunit housing (MUH) residences. Content analysis of data from focus groups and interviews conducted with local MUH residents, landlords, city officials, law enforcement, and public health advocates identified potential barriers to implementing the ordinance equitably across Richmond's racially and economically diverse neighborhoods. This analysis suggests approaches to increase compliance with the ordinance, such as addressing the need to prepare residents for the ordinance's enactment, working with building managers to display the required signage and identification of the designated smoking areas, and providing information on smoking cessation. Richmond's smokefree MUH ordinance may be the strongest approach to reducing secondhand smoke exposure, especially among children, elderly and low-income residents. However, in addition to our data, input from our community advisory panel has been pivotal in determining specific ordinance information that still needs to be propagated to MUH residents, landlords and homeowner associations (HOAs). In collaboration with our community advisory panel, we developed two community-friendly and visually appealing interventions, one customized for MUH residents and the other for landlords and HOAs. The goal of the intervention is to use the knowledge of the law to influence current behaviors and subjective norms of individuals (observance of those not smoking within an MUH environment) to increase compliance with the Richmond smokefree MUH ordinance by MUH residents, landlords, and HOAs.