Health Promotion Fair 2015

AS Health and Social Care students at The Sixth Form College are holding their own Health Promotion Fair this week, promoting a variety of health related issues to fellow students and staff at the College. Students take part in Health Promotion Fairs at the college as part of their AS coursework.

By setting up stalls which cover different health related issues such as: teenage pregnancy; STI’s; smoking reduction; and alcohol, know your limits; students learn the role of health promotion experts in educating participants in preventative health measures.

They also learn about the risks to health, and about the range of local and national services available to support young people. The fairs are very popular with all students in college, as they can access a full range of information, ask questions and take part in demonstrations and activities.

The students involved in the Health Promotion Fair are encouraged to come up with interesting ways of promoting their key health messages in order to engage with their peers - such as serving “Mocktails”, informative goody bags and setting up games and challenges for visitors to take part in.

Student, Kate Disley-Jones, assisted on the Healthy Eating stand at the fair and enjoyed taking part in the promotion stating, “By informing others of the messages we’re promoting we are informing ourselves and constantly learning new things.”

The College invites health professionals from services to give feedback to the Health and Social Care students and assess their knowledge. This year, Kate Moore from the Terrence Higgins Trust was on hand to review the students’ stands, and assist in providing information about future schemes where students can volunteer to be involved in health promotion activities in the community.

Kate was impressed with the students work, commenting, “The students I’ve seen so far have delivered their messages with enthusiasm and keen knowledge of their subject. Allowing the students to organise their own Health Promotion Fair is a valuable learning tool as they inform themselves through the organisation of the event by researching about the various health messages and then promoting these to their peers. I think it is also a much better way for young people to engage with the messages the Health & Social Care students are promoting.”

HSC Fair 2015