London CHS launches mobile stop smoking campaign
Barking and Dagenham Community Health Services (CHS), is taking its stop smoking service onto the high street with the launch of a high-profile mobile campaign for January.
Laura Nash
Published 21 January 2010
The ‘Stop Smoking, Start Living’ roadshow from Barking and Dagenham CHS will deliver information, health tests and advice directly into the heart of key community meeting places including shopping centres and markets.
The four-week touring campaign will be delivered on board a colourful, branded mobile information unit, designed and supplied by health promotion specialist EMS. People visiting the unit will be offered a lung age test – a proven technique for encouraging people to quit smoking – as well as blood pressure and Body Barking & Dagenham ArticleMass Index (BMI) testing to support improvements in their general health. The campaign has been timed to capitalise on the New Year period – the most popular time of the year for people to resolve to stop smoking.
Nicola Hill, Stop Smoking Service Manager for Barking and Dagenham Community Health Services, said: “This is the first time that we have taken our service ‘on the road’.
“By going out to where people are, rather than waiting for them to come to us, we hope to reach into new sections of the community and to support more people in giving up smoking.”
EMS has a long track record in smoking cessation campaigns; its 2009 campaign for neighbouring Newham PCT reached 6,339 people in three months.
Keith Austin, EMS Healthcare's Chief Executive Officer, said: “Going mobile is a proven way of raising awareness of a local healthcare service and increasing uptake of that service.
“To ensure the very best possible results for this campaign, we have provided an experienced health promotion staff member to encourage people to visit the unit – leaving the community health service staff to do their valuable work on board.”
The ‘Stop Smoking, Start Living’ roadshow starts on 6 January and concludes on 31 January. The unit will visit five venues on the same day each week, including Morrison’s, Tesco and Asda supermarkets and Dagenham Market.