P eople in public-facing jobs such as firemen, postal workers, hairdressers and bar staff could be given a formal role in imparting health messages if recent proposals by the Royal Society of Public Health (RSPH) – put together with input from Public Health England, the Centre for Workforce Intelligence, Allied Health Professionals and the Department of Health – come into force.
Initially the idea seems rather bizarre. Do people really want to be lectured – during their leisure time no less – by bar staff and hairdressers telling them to give up smoking and drink less? Could such tactics be detrimental for business, dissuading people from visiting their local?
And how qualified to offer advice does the public perceive these people to be anyway, when they might need to make lifestyle changes themselves?
All that said, such schemes aren’t without precedent. Already in Jersey, postal workers are given a secondary role to check up on frail elderly people who live alone; they also collect their prescriptions as part of their job description. Meanwhile betting chain Ladbrokes welcomes the RSPH proposals, having already tested out a similar concept of its own. Recognising the fact that many of its punters are hard to reach in terms of health messaging, it supported Men’s Health Week in June of this year with the aim of raising awareness of lifestyle changes that could lead to a healthier life.
Grainne Hurst, Ladbrokes’ director of corporate affairs, says the poster, leaflet and social media campaign “challenged men to think about drinking sensibly, watching their weight, quitting smoking, being active and turning up for their NHS health checks”.
However, the RSPH proposals want to push this idea much further. Rather than having promotional material on display, staff will be required to engage with customers. With the right training, could this be the key to widespread lifestyle change? And where does the health club industry fit into the plans? We ask the experts....
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