Location: The Barberry, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham
Event: Health Event Stand
Awareness topics: Tobacco and No Smoking Day
In preparation for the whole of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital becoming a ‘no smoking’ site, we were invited to deliver a health event stand to staff and visitors. The booking coincided with the annual No Smoking Day, co-ordinated by the British Heart Foundation, and an event the White Ribbon Association supports each year. Therefore, aside general tobacco awareness, we were also able to promote No Smoking Day and encourage smokers to quit.
We were allocated a space within the Barberry building, a busy centre which is run by the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust, and throughout the day we encountered many different people and chatted about their experiences with smoking.
Many staff members took away packs of our free informative leaflets to hand out to patients who were unable to leave their wards to visit the stand personally. We offered carbon monoxide testing to all visitors which many individuals seem to find beneficial, particularly those who have stopped smoking and want to check how the levels of carbon monoxide in their body have decreased.
The majority of visitors, patients and staff were aware of the changes to hospital policy with regards to smoking on or around the premises, and were prepared for this by either quitting smoking well in advance or preparing to do so. None the less some of the interactive models we took with us, such as the smoked foot and the foul mouth, were thought provoking for visitors who stopped at the stand and became excellent conversation pieces with regards to the health impact of smoking.
To reinforce the message we had been delivering during the day, we made arrangements for several of our free-to-loan Community Health Information displays to be left with the hospital, along with our free leaflets which can also be downloaded from our website.
Our health events are an ideal for promoting various health topics from an informal approach. At only £30 for each event, they are suited to meet many budget restraints. Get in touch with our Development Officers today who would be delighted to discuss your specific needs.