Health Promotion Campaign Keeps Bodies & Minds In Check

Health for both body and mind has never been a higher priority in the public mind-set and a Sixth Form College campaign aimed at 16 to 19-year-olds is helping our students stay as informed as possible.

Foundation to Health & Veterinary Studies (Year 0) students have been planning and producing the campaign in their final few weeks with us before heading off to study at the University of Liverpool upon successful results, and the rest of the students at the college are the ones who benefit from their work.

The health promotion event focussed on mental wellbeing, nutrition & exercise, binge drinking, smoking, skin cancer awareness and the health implications of tattoos, among others.

Year 0 teacher, Ashley Vallance, explained: “The students which the campaign is aimed at can come away with really important health messages.

“We want them to be aware of health issues that are particularly targeted at 16-19-year-olds. Moving into the exam period – having an awareness of nutrition, exercise and looking after themselves in regards to their mental health, and generally, is crucial. The skin cancer awareness campaign is also highly relevant with summer approaching and people going on holidays.”

Ashley continued: “Our Year 0 students get the chance to operate in a group and produce an effective health promotion campaign. Part of their assignment is an evaluation of how the campaign performed and, as many of them will be going into health professions after they leave here, speaking to the rest of the students at the college and helping to educate them could be an important learning tool.”

Joel Morgan was raising awareness about nutrition & exercise and explained that his pilot research studies made for an informed, specific campaign plan: “It’s a matter of encouraging rather than pushing too hard, which can be off-putting, but the information we’re providing is really beneficial.  

“Our pilot study showed that a lot of students weren’t drinking enough water. Keeping hydrated helps you concentrate more; it’s actually noticeable how much better your concentration is, and you get less fatigue.”

Joel added: “We’ve also come up with 30 day challenges for exercising. It can start off with something very small, like two or three sit-ups or push-ups or squats, but then build on that over the period. People seem to like the challenges because it’s something to motivate them.”

Rebekah Denton and Ashley Tynan were informing students about binge-drinking but expanded their message after initial research findings.

Rebekah said: “We’re giving the students information about how much is too much, but also factoring in drink-driving as well so they can be informed about getting in the car with someone who’s under the influence. We found that our initial research highlighted that as a potential problem so redesigned the focus of the project to accommodate that.”

Year 0 Health Campaign 2016