Community cooperation drives home health messages

Media Release

From: Jill Stringer
Date: 4 June 2009
Subject: A window of opportunity

Have you checked out the window display of your local pharmacy lately? If so, then you might have noticed that the displays are co-ordinated to reflect events on the healthcare calendar such as vaccination programmes against cervical cancer or seasonal influenza and currently, supporting people to become smokefree around World Smokefree Day.

These displays are part of a joint initiative between the Wairarapa District Health Board and the eight local pharmacies in the Wairarapa area.

“The aim is to create awareness within our community,” says Anna Stuart, Health Promoter at Public Health. “For many people, the pharmacy is their first port of call for a range of health issues so giving them information from that point makes sense.” Anna provides the pharmacies with a range of resources such as posters, brochures and other give-away and display materials related to two different health topics, every three months

“The feedback we’ve had from the pharmacies so far has been really good,” she says. “It seems that the displays have got people talking and that’s a great start. We recently had some window displays related to different types of skin infections and the pharmacies told us that there had been plenty of people coming in off the street asking for information, advice and products as a result of seeing the window display.”

Belinda Baird, Pharmacist at Duncans Pharmacy in Chapel Street, says that the displays act as an opener for people who want to discuss a health issue, and that they complement the health promotion role of pharmacies. “It’s given us a much more united approach to these basic health messages. Being aware of what the Health Board is doing at the same time means that we can co-ordinate our messages – and that’s more effective than everyone doing their own thing.”

“For World Smokefree Day, we’ve had the window displays, plus resources to help people who are thinking about quitting and we’ve handed our quit books when dispensing nicotine replacement therapies. It’s still providing information, but it’s just more targeted. We have things like stickers to give to kids that remind them about the importance of washing their hands, especially when they’re infectious. So some of it is fun stuff, but it’s educational too – and it really supports what we are trying to do, which is support our community’s health!”

ENDS

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