No Smoking Day Mobilisation March 2015 Report from Healthy Living Centre Alliance to the Public Health Agency

Transcription

1 No Smoking Day Mobilisation March 2015 Report from Healthy Living Centre Alliance to the Public Health Agency Tony Doherty Regional Coordinator April 2015

2 No Smoking Day Mobilisation March 2015 Report from Healthy Living Centre Alliance to the Public Health Agency Introduction The Regional Coordinator of the Healthy Living Centre Alliance engaged the Public Health Agency in January 2015 with regard to a training initiative on smoking as part of its bespoke training programme titled "Strengthening Commonalities". The HLC Alliance had agreed previously to nominate smoking as one of four key risk factors to be earmarked for collaborative activity from 2015 onwards. The training therefore was designed to provide an overview on smoking to HLC staff and managers with a view agreeing common approaches. 1 The Healthy Living Centre Alliance The Healthy Living Centre Alliance is a Consortium of fourteen Healthy Living Centres. HLCs are health improvement projects based in areas of high health inequalities in the greater Belfast area, Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Ards Peninsula. Healthy Living Centres are community-led health improvement initiatives i.e. adopting a bottom-up partnership approach engaging local people and organisations, as local assets, to work collectively to address health inequalities and to improve the health of their neighbourhood, town or village. It is the ability to reach residents experiencing high levels of health inequalities, often referred to "hard to reach" or "seldom heard", which distinguishes a Healthy Living Centre from other health providers. Furthermore, it is the ability of the Healthy Living Centre Alliance to strategise to work together regionally to reach residents experiencing high levels of health inequalities which distinguishes Healthy Living Centres from other providers and networks. The Alliance believes that constructively engaging and involving people most in need is the best way to improve health, both physical or mental. It is widely accepted that where you live and what you earn are two major factors in determining health inequalities. Put plainly, if you live in a high income area you are less likely to suffer from illness and you will probably live beyond the average age for a man or woman. However, if you live in one the top 20% most deprived wards in the north you are more likely to become ill more often and more likely to die younger than the average man or woman. The Alliance membership has agreed a number of areas of special collaboration targeting those at high risk of developing or living with long-term conditions such as cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke. These areas are: 1) smoking 2) sedentary lifestyles 3)stress or poor mental health 4) poor diet and nutrition and 5) alcohol and drugs misuse. The NSD Mobilisation on Smoking was the Alliance' first region-wide mobilisation on any of the key risk factor areas identified. 1 See Appendices for January 2015 training event on Smoking 2

3 Proposal to PHA In February 2015 the HLC Alliance made a proposal to the PHA for 20k to carry out the following actions: 1. Coordination of a HLC Alliance Working Group on Smoking 2. Provide bespoke training on Brief Intervention and Knowledge Enhancement of Smoking Related issues. 3. Produce a range of marketing and publicity material to mark No Smoking day as part of the Proud to be a Quitter campaign. 4. Purchase a range of merchandising to support HLCs working on an anti-smoking agenda on and after 11th March Organise nine public engagements on 11th March 2015 in shopping centres in or near areas of greatest disadvantage in the Greater Belfast and Western Trust areas of the north. Planning and Coordination The HLC Alliance Smoking Working Group was agreed at the conclusion of a the training event held on Friday 9th January 2015 in the ARC HLC in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. It was convened by Tony Doherty, Regional Coordinator of the Alliance, and was made up of Caroline Ogilvie PHA, Aileen McGuinness Bogside and Brandywell Health Forum, Rachel Howe New Lodge/Duncairn HLC. Catherine Coyle, PHA Health Registrar liaised with the Working Group as part of her professional training and attended the tailored training on 25th February. The Working Group met on a number of occasions in Maghera, roughly equidistant between Belfast and Derry. Aileen McGuinness took the lead in the West and Rachel Howe lead in the greater Belfast area, including the Ards Peninsula HLC in the South East. Taking the lead meant convening a HLC group in the west and in Belfast to plan and coordinate events at that level. Importantly, one of the key tasks was to source local people who had given up smoking and who would become the public faces of the "Proud to be a Quitter" campaign in the run up to and including No Smoking Day. Five such quitters were sourced from both the west and in Belfast from a variety of backgrounds and age-groups. They were as follows: Joe Traynor, a smoker for eighteen years from East Belfast "I was moved to give them up for my twoyear old son". Jo McIntyre, a smoker for forty years from Ederney in county Fermanagh "I've saved 1400 of money that used to go up in smoke!" Danielle Collins a smoker for sixteen years from Derry "Since I quit I feel healthier, my skin's clearer, my teeth are whiter and I don't smell of smoke". Malachai O Hara, a smoker for nearly twenty years from north Belfast "I quit to raise a family with my boy-friend in a smoke-free home". 3

4 Tommy Moss a smoker for twenty-three years from Aghyaran in County Tyrone "If you don't succeed try again! I can assure you it will be worth it!" Their colour images and quotations were carried on handbills, posters and banners distributed throughout areas surrounding each of the Healthy Living Centres in the West, Belfast and Ards Peninsula. The Smoking Steering Group planned the training exercise scheduled for 25 February Training on Brief Intervention on Smoking Twenty HLC Staff and Managers attended the training event in the Loughry Rural College on 25 February. The objectives of the training were as follows: 1. Focus on facilitating staff to adopt a professional and confident approach to engaging the public during the planned events to Mark No Smoking day on 11th March. 2. Ensure that staff understand the Proud to be a Quitter campaign. 3. Ensure that the Ash to Cash brief intervention model is conveyed properly to the 2 public i.e. with the emphasis on financial savings to the quitter. 4. Ensure that staff are equipped with the correct responses to queries from the public during the engagements on and beyond 11 March Monitored feedback from the event strongly suggests that it was well delivered and received and that there was genuine learning among those who attended. The following quote is from Catherine Coyle, PHA Registrar in training, who attended the event 3 : "I attended a training event on this intervention for the HLC staff and observed that this facilitated the consistency of approach across the different centres, with role playing opportunities and feedback provided. However HLC staff was also encouraged to make arrangements as best suited their local circumstances and communities. This was a well-run session with a positive atmosphere which served a number of functions; training, networking and agreeing operational aspects of the events for NSD." Others were recorded as saying about the training: "Look forward to a great event and talking to the public about smoking". "Role-play was very helpful and entertaining!" "Very useful information from Caroline (PHA Rep). Good to be able to relay the PHA stand on e- cigs". "Good practical demonstration of Ash To Cash intervention". "Role-play scenarios very helpful". 2 see Appendices for Training Format 3 See Appendices for Training Monitoring Pro-forma 4

5 The Smoking Steering Group felt that the inclusion of role-play was very important as the Ash to Cash Brief Intervention was new to most of the Alliance membership, focussing on the financial savings aspect of quitting. Staff were also keen to hear the messages surrounding e-cigs as many of the shopping centre events planned for NSD would be held in very close proximity to e-cig shops. Marketing and Publicity The PHA financial award to BBHF paid for the design and production of hand-bill, posters and banners. The Regional Coordinator had some difficulty sourcing good quality images of the five Quitters. Quitters' photographs had been taken using low resolution cameras and, as such, could not be used as large images. Eventually, good images were sourced, in one instance via the hiring of a professional photographer. For future reference, the Alliance would simply hire a professional photographer to provide good quality photos of quitters so as to remove the hassle factor to both the quitters and HLCs. BBHF also purchased a large number of merchandising items such as Tar Jars, Smokers Lungs, Piggy Banks etc in order to help shoppers engage better with the subject matter. The HLC Alliance Regional Coordinator drew up a key press statement to assist with publicising NSD 4. This was sent to PHA, Cancer Focus and British Heart Foundation - all key partners in NSD coordination. Upon ratification it was agreed that each organisation could use the press statement at will. In addition, Cancer Focus drew up the case stories of each of the five quitters for press circulation/interest. As a result, several local newspapers and several regional newspapers carried substantial stories and images on NSD activity. These were: The Daily Mirror (NI) Belfast Telegraph The Derry Journal Derry News Strabane Chronicle Newtownards Chronicle Two live interviews were held on Radio Foyle on 10th and 11th March with one Quitter, Danielle Collins from Derry and, the following day, with Aileen McGuinness of BBHF. PHA Communications is to provide the full portfolio of print-press coverage of the NSD events. Outcomes - No Smoking Day Mobilisation 2015 The following table provides a schematic overview of all Shopping Centre interventions planned for NSD 2015: 4 See Appendices for press statement 5

6 Eastern No Smoking Day Mobilisations Shopping Centre Conswater East Belfast Kennedy Centre West Belfast Ards Shopping Centre Peninsula Area Cityside North Belfast HLC S Contact Pharmacist Numbers of leaflets EBCDA HEART (Maureen Sheehan) Peninsula + staff from 1 other Belfast HLC ASHLC NLDCHP LIGONIEL Top of the Rock (Upper Springfield) Alison Bryans/Alan Houston Liz McShane Sheila Bailie/Kirsty Menagh Rachel Howe Janet Conswater Boots Confirmed but have not been told who Boots Pharmacist Tara Challener Boots Approx 3000 Approx 3000 Approx different areas involved each could take up to 3000 but depends on availability Local Champion TBC TBC Confirmed but no name and waiting on photo etc Malachi O Hare Rainbow project, photo and quote ed to Tony. Western No Smoking Day Mobilisations Shopping Centre/Times Quayside, Triax pm Northside, Outer North pm ARC Health Living Centre 11-1pm Oak Health Living Centre 11-1pm HLC S Contact Pharmacist Numbers of leaflets BBHF & OLT BBHF & OLT ARC HLC Oak HLC Aileen McGuinness aileen@bbhealthforum.org Leeann Monk leeann@olt.ie Aidan Ormby Aidan.Ormsby@archlc.com Noel oakproject1@btconnect.com Killian Johnson Local Champion 5000 Danielle Collins - Info to be obtained Medicare 5000 Collette McCauley - waiting on photo Local Pharmacist Local Pharmacist 3000 Joe McIntyre - waiting on photo 3000 Waiting on Info Asda Enniskillen 2-4pm Arch & Oak HLC Aidan & Noel Contacts as above Local Pharmacist 1000 As above Spar 12-1pm, Vivo Derg Valley Michael Connolly Paddy Corry 1000 Thomas Moss - waiting on photo 6

7 2.15pm, Coop pm & Bus station pm Care & HLC The plan was to engage around 900 smokers in a series of shopping centre based events in Fermanagh, Tyrone, Derry, Belfast and Ards. Staff of a number of Healthy Living Centres, local pharmacies and other supportive organisations set up stall for a 3-4 hour period and engaged shoppers as they passed by. The training provided emphasised and demonstrated the imperative of a well-honed personal approach rather than have curious shoppers approach a stall or simply choose to ignore it. It was thought that, by placing the emphasis of the engagement on financial savings through the Ash to Cash Brief Intervention, this would have a greater appeal to those who were out to spend money as part of their daily or weekly routine. For all intents and purposes this approach appears to have worked people in total were directly engaged as part of the overall NSD mobilisation. Based on monitoring returns from the various events we estimate more than 800 were smokers. 5 Health Checks i.e. CO and Cholesterol = 353 Cancer Focus Van engaged 17 smokers and 9 non-smokers in Asda Enniskillen and Cityside Belfast. Comment from Aileen McGuinness who coordinated the West: I feel this coordinated event showed how a regional model of collaborative working could enhance any campaign and would like to see an inclusion of other HLC's to strengthen the message. Working in the West I found the HLC's partnership was very strong and this should be utilised for future projects. This campaign was organised in three months. Although we had a very positive experience in the West with all the HLC's I feel that more time would have been beneficial. To organise a campaign like this across a large geographic area and to ensure enough time for delivery of materials there would need to be four to five months of planning. I felt the training event was very beneficial to inform our approach on the day and the roleplays helped people understand how to use the Ash to Cash Brief Intervention model. The event gave the HLC staff time to enhance their relationships and also benefited the partnership working. 5 The Smoking Steering Group agrees that monitoring of numbers engaged will be tightened up in any future coordination to show non-smokers, recently-quit smokers and smokers. This improvement can be processed in training. 7

8 Reports of the NSD events were positive and people felt the piggy banks were a great tool to complement the Ash to Cash model. Staff reported that the Ash to Cash model was the best discussion tool and worked as a shock factor for people to realise the amount of money they spend and what they could be getting for that money. If we are planning on running the same event on NSD next year I feel there should be follow up support groups that we could refer people onto so they can get the support they need to quit smoking. Derry - Quayside Our local champion was a young lady and we found this helped us to engage with a lot of young people compared to other years. When we completed the Ash to Cash brief intervention with younger people they were shocked about the amount of money they spend. One young man said "I would never save the money each day" this was followed by the staff member saying, "our local champion saved the money each day and she was able to change her car and go on a holiday". This motivated they young man to speak to the local pharmacist and seek further support. Enniskillen - ASDA One young mother smokes 15 cigarettes per day, her partner also smoked the same and when the Ash to Cash intervention was carried out she realised between them they were smoking 45,000, the price of a house. Lisnaskea There was a lot of people who wanted to give up the cigarettes however they felt there was no ongoing support in their area. Castlederg One of the Champions was local man Tommy Moss. This really helped the appeal of NSD locally and got carried in the Strabane Chronicle. Castlederg HLC set up stall in a number of small service shops within the town and engaged a number of user groups within the Healthy Living Centre. The HLC combined well with the local pharmacist on the day. Comment from Rachel Howe who coordinated greater Belfast and Ards: Cityside: One young boy aged 12 came over due to the visual aids such as tar jars etc and then asked what we were doing, he said he didn t smoke but wanted his mum to stop. The ash to cash model was explained to him and he was very surprised. He later came back to the stand with his mum and a family friend who also smoked and showed them the money they could be saving. Both were very interested in services and were directed to the Cancer focus van for further health checks and advice. Cityside: One lady commented: thanks, you have really helped me and have spurred me to definitely give the cigarettes up. Now that I know what I will be saving but most importantly highlighting the dangers of smoking and how this will ultimately affect my health. 8

9 Ards: two parents had recently quit due to their children asking them to stop. They were more fearful for their children s health than their own and wanted to survive as long as possible so that they could see them grow up. Ards: six participants signed up to smoking cessation services with the pharmacists in the centre. A further 12 were referred to a other local pharmacist. Ards shopping centre has a wide catchment area so details were provided of other services in the Peninsula area. Based on the above outcomes it is clear that the approach taken by the Healthy Living Centre Alliance to No Smoking Day 2015 was successful and the projected target of engaging 900 smokers in a matter of four hours was achieved. Involvement of the HLC Alliance in NSD has made an important national campaign relevant to urban and rural communities throughout the north which normally would not have been involved or had been aware of. The ability to innovate is central to any public health strategy designed to tackle core health inequalities, not least of all smoking and the drastic impact it has on health and well being. A measure of the success of any public health strategy is in its ability to reach those most directly at risk. The Strengthening Commonalities programme provided a positive indication of the Alliance's ability to innovate with regard to enhancing the No Smoking agenda and has exemplified the benefit of a community-led health improvement network in terms of translating a high level government strategy into a networked series of mobilisations carried out, in or near, neighbourhoods where, due to higher degrees of health inequalities, more people smoke. Basically, the Alliance localised and connected a major national campaign to those that matter most. The Healthy Living Centre Alliance has now ingrained No Smoking into its key risk factors as areas for special attention and collaboration. We believe that our Ash to Cash brief intervention approach to smokers, emphasising the financial rewards of quitting, has a strong appeal to those on lower incomes and that the most ideal location for engaging them is in local shopping centres. Recommendations To HLC Alliance: to retain smoking as one of the key risk factors for special collaboration in to continue to engage smokers via the Ash to Cash brief intervention and carry out further training if necessary to pilot coordinated no-smoking related activity with the 14 HLC Action Plans to PHA in PHA and HLC Alliance are participating jointly in the Inspiring Impact programme exploring how the Logic Model will be employed for all contracted activity going forward. A presentation to the Alliance to this effect on Friday 22nd May as part of the Strengthening Commonalities Programme. It is likely that No Smoking will be the agreed pilot for this transformational exercise. 9

10 each HLC to nominate a staff member to take responsibility for smoking within their project to continue to engage PHA both at a staff level and strategic level to explore opportunities and mutual interest To PHA: to explore the possibility of the HLC Alliance participating on to the NSD NI Coordinating Group to explore how the Triax Model for Smoking Cessation i.e. community and pharmacist working together, can be extended to other HLC areas 10

11 Appendix 1 HEALTHY LIVING CENTRE ALLIANCE Strengthening Commonalities Programme "Mobilising People, Families and Neighbourhoods on Smoking" The ARC Healthy Living Centre 10.30am pm Friday 9th January 2015 Time Content By Arrival and Registration All Objectives of Today's Workshop Tony Doherty Smoking: PHA Policy, Strategy and Practice Colette Brolly PHA Pharmacy and HLCs Working Together - the Benefits Killian Johnston, Pharmacist Break All Smoking Quiz Julie Jamison Newlodge/Duncairn North Belfast Quit Charter Úna McRoberts Ardoyne/Shankill Triax Anti-Smoking Action Plan Leeann Monk, Old Library Trust Technology Demonstrations, Browsing etc All Lunch All Workshops (designed to reach pre-determined and possibly other objectives ) Facilitated Feedback, Discussion and Recommendations Tony Doherty 11

12 Appendix 2 HEALTHY LIVING CENTRE ALLIANCE & Public Health Agency Strengthening Commonalities Programme Training in Brief Intervention Rural College, Cookstown 25 March 2015 Time Content By 1.00pm Lunch All Objectives of Today's Workshop Overview of Planned Activity - 11 March 2015 Tony Doherty Brief Intervention with Smokers Rachel Howe Break All Duncairn/Ligoniel HLC Information on E-cigarettes Caroline Ogilvy Ash for Cash Brief Intervention Scenarios Aileen McGuinness and Leeann Monk PHA (BBHF & OLT) Plenary Discussion Tony Doherty 12

13 Appendix 3 Mobilising People, Families and Neighbourhoods on Smoking Loughry College, 25 February 2015STRENGTHENING COMMONALITIES - MONITORING EXERCISE The objectives of today s event were: 1. Focus on facilitating staff to adopt a professional and confident approach to engaging the public during the planned events to Mark No Smoking day on 11th March. 2. Ensure that staff understand the PHA Proud to be a Quitter campaign. 3. Ensure that the Ash to Cash brief intervention model is conveyed properly to the public i.e. with the emphasis on financial savings to the quitter 4. Ensure that staff are equipped with the correct responses to queries from the public during the engagements on and beyond 11 March For the purpose of evaluating the success or otherwise of this event, and for future planning, it is important that you take a few minutes and jot down some brief notes and suggestions. We have provided some specific questions which may serve to start the process off. 1. Are you more confident in your approach to 11th March as a result of taking part in today's event? Yes No Partly Comment: 2. Do you fully understand the Proud to be a Quitter campaign? Yes No Partly Comment: 3. Are you more confident in delivering the Ash To Cash brief intervention on 11 March 2015? Yes No Not Sure Comment 4. Are you better equipped to respond to queries from the public as to aspects of smoking i.e. e- cigs? Yes No Not Sure Comment: 13

14 Appendix 4 Healthy Living Centres Say "It's Now Time To Quit!" What do the following names mean to you: Tommy Moss, Jo McIntyre, Malachai O Hara, Danielle Collins and Joe Traynor? At a loss? Well, the answer is that each of them have given up smoking in the last twelve months. And between them they have smoked for over 100 years! They will of course be somewhat better known by 11th March - No Smoking Day - as they will become the public faces of the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Northern Ireland's "Proud to be a Quitter!" campaign, celebrating the role of these champions in taking control of their own health while encouraging others to do likewise. The Healthy Living Centre Alliance, in partnership with BHF Northern Ireland, Cancer Focus Northern Ireland and the Public Health Agency, have agreed to mobilise their staff and resources this year to demonstrate that, even if you have smoked for a long time, once you put your mind to it, you can do quit! And it's not just about you! Quitters have many reasons to quit as our five Champions will attest: Joe Traynor, a smoker for eighteen years from East Belfast "I was moved to give them up for my twoyear old son". Jo McIntyre, a smoker for forty years from Ederney in county Fermanagh "I've saved 1400 of money that used to go up in smoke!" Danielle Collins a smoker for sixteen years from Derry "Since I quit I feel healthier, my skin's clearer, my teeth are whiter and I don't smell of smoke". Malachai O Hara, a smoker for nearly twenty years from north Belfast "I quit to raise a family with my boy-friend in a smoke-free home". Tommy Moss a smoker for twenty-three years from Aghyaran in County Tyrone "If you don't succeed try again! I can assure you it will be worth it!" Tony Doherty, Regional Coordinator with the Healthy Living Centre Alliance, said "On Wednesday 11 March Healthy Living Centre Staff in Belfast, Derry, Ards, Fermanagh and Tyrone will team up with local pharmacists, Cancer Focus NI and others to take these Champions' messages and smiling faces into shopping centres to demonstrate to other smokers that ordinary people can do wonderful things for their health, their pockets and their families. By simply quitting or even to start thinking about it! The intention is to target 900 smokers throughout the north in one day. Smokers: Turn Your Ash Into Cash! "Healthy Living Centre staff will be available to advise smokers how to convert their ASH into CASH. For instance, a thirty-a-day smoker will spend 4,650 per year on cigarettes. For many families a saving of 4,650 could be spent on home improvements, a holiday, college fees for their children etc. "Pharmacy staff will be on hand to carry out carbon monoxide breath tests and provide advice on the use of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRTs). "Smoking is the single greatest cause of preventable illness, premature death and health inequality. Up to 2,300 people die prematurely each year in Northern Ireland from smoking related illnesses. 14

15 Smoking harms those who do not smoke through exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and parental smoking can harm children before they are born. 164m is the annual hospital bill for treating smoking related illnesses. "These are all good reasons for given them up. Make this year's No Smoking Day a day to remember. Give them up and be proud to be a quitter!" For more information on the services available and useful tips to stop smoking, visit the PHA s Want 2 Stop website at where you can also order a Quit Kit free of charge which will help you plan your quit attempt. Cancer Focus NI also provides a wide range of services that help local smokers quit. For more information please call the charity on , behealthy@cancerfocusni.org or visit To receive information and support on stopping smoking visit nosmokingday.org.uk and join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #NoSmokingDay. Editor's Notes The Healthy Living Centre Alliance is a Consortium of fourteen community-led health improvement projects based in the greater Belfast area, Derry, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Ards Peninsula. Tony Doherty, Regional Coordinator, can be contacted at or tony@hlcalliance.org List of No Smoking Day Events - all 12.00noon pm except where indicated Belfast & Ards Conswater, Shopping Centre, East Belfast Kennedy Centre, West Belfast Ards Shopping Centre, Peninsula Area Cityside Shopping Centre, North Belfast Derry Northside Shopping Centre pm Quayside Shopping Centre pm Fermanagh The Arc Healthy Living Centre, Irvingstown 11.00am-1.00pm The OAK Healthy Living Centre, Lisnaskea 11.00am-1.00pm Enniskillen - ASDA Shopping Centre Tyrone Castlederg Spar 12-1pm, Vivo pm, Co-op pm Bus station pm 15