National Heart Roadshow

The 43-week BHF Heart Health Roadshow – project managed by EMS Healthcare – will target four, ‘at risk’ regions of the UK, which have a higher than average incidence of heart disease.

Launching in Beckton, East London, on 5 May, the vehicle-based tour will visit carefully selected locations in the heart of specific communities – aiming to engage with people who may not regularly visit their GP. The campaign vehicle will provide a base for free heart health lifestyle reviews, conduced by trained BHF advisors in screened-off consultation booths. Visitors will register for an appointment using touchscreens that will capture basic data.

People identified as being at a high risk of heart disease following a review will be directed for a more detailed check-up at a local BHF centre or, in urgent cases,advised to go immediately to their GP. The 2009 tour follows the runaway success of a pilot roadshow in the North East of England in 2008, which saw people queuing up to book free heart risk assessments.

Andrew Johnson, Project Manager for the BHF Heart Health Roadshow, said: “This is a far-reaching campaign with extremely ambitious objectives.

“We want to reach right into the heart of at risk communities and catch people before they realise they have a problem.”

He added: “Choosing the right partner for such an important campaign was critical. EMS proved their credentials with the hugely successful pilot tour in 2008, and they have been an integral partner in developing the 2009 campaign.”

Keith Austin, Chief Executive Officer at EMS Healthcare, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed to this high-profile project, which has the potential to change and even to save lives.

“This is another example of how targeted mobile campaigns are helping to deliver the growing social marketing agenda to clients in the public and third sectors.”

The 2009 BHF Heart Health Roadshow will operate on board a branded, 10.5m mobile exhibition vehicle, providing four consultation booths and a large waiting area for the display of information and video presentations.

The campaign will spend three months in each region, visiting locations including supermarkets, town centres and retail parks. EMS Healthcare researched each location to match the BHF’s brief to engage with specific socioeconomic groups at high risk of developing heart disease. The tour aims to deliver one-to-one health assessments to 36,000 people over the year, and to reach an ultimate total of 600,000 people through the distribution of literature, information and advice. The BHF Heart Health Roadshow launches on 5 May at the Asda supermarket in Beckton, East London. It will stay in the region until August 1, before moving on to spend three months in a new area.