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Running a successful public health campaign requires a number of key
components, including adequate planning, creative campaign materials
and the involvement of all pharmacy staff.
Lambeth and Southwark primary care trusts in London have joined forces
on several public health campaigns over the past year. Ros Band, health
development manager at Health First, a specialist NHS health promotion
service for Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham, has been working with the
PCTs to develop the campaigns, evaluate learning to date and create a
strategy for the next
programme.
Planning for the next programme of campaigns, which will start in April,
is now under way. “We have a long shortlist, which we are running
past partners in public health and front-line primary care service managers
to see what they think the top six campaigns should be,” she says.
Each campaign runs for one month.
Health First organises pre-campaign briefing sessions for pharmacy staff
to explain the campaign’s aims and objectives and provide background
information. For pharmacists, these sessions follow the regular community
pharmacy forum and include tips on how to run a successful campaign.
Additional sessions for pharmacy counter staff focus on issues such as
how to target patients.
“It has really been a partnership between Health First, the PCT
pharmacy contract implementation managers and the community pharmacists
themselves
to make the campaigns happen,” says Ms Band.
Basic campaigns involve leaflets, posters and signposting to other services.
More extensive campaigns can include additional activities, such as healthy
eating workshops and patient questionnaires.
Ash Soni, a community pharmacist in Streatham, London, and the community
pharmacist representative on the Lambeth PCT health promotion subgroup,
has been involved in several public health campaigns this year.
A recent diabetes campaign in the borough aimed to identify people with
undiagnosed diabetes and refer them to their GP. “It is important
to know what you are trying to achieve and make sure that the campaign
material reflects this,” says Mr Soni. They tested the diabetes
campaign material on a user group identified through Diabetes UK, he
says.
The campaign involved pharmacy staff filling in a questionnaire with
patients while they waited for their prescriptions; a positive response
to any of the questions triggered a GP referral. The questionnaire was
designed in association with the PCT public health
director and medical director, and associated diabetologists, so as to
avoid inappropriate referrals. Campaign material was sent to community
pharmacies two weeks before the campaign was due to start.
The campaign was monitored and evaluated to see how it could be improved. “We
found that the campaign was good for identifying undiagnosed diabetes
but it also revealed that existing diabetes patients wanted more information.
Next year we will target both groups of patients,” says Mr Soni.
A training event was held by the PCT for pharmacists and pharmacy counter
staff before the campaign. Frances Wellburn, community pharmacy contracts
and development manager at Lambeth PCT, says that next year the PCT hopes
to incorporate screening into both the diabetes and hypertension campaigns. “This
will probably not be in all pharmacies but will be concentrated in hotspots
identified through this year’s campaigns,” she explains.
Mr Soni believes the most important thing in any campaign is to be proactive. “One
of the things about doing health promotion is talking to your patients — either
you or your staff,” he argues. He says that it is important to
upskill pharmacy staff so they can approach customers with confidence. “Give
them the responsibility because you cannot possibly speak to every patient
that walks through the door,” he says.
Bhadresh Patel, a community pharmacist in Herne Hill, London, agrees. “The
key to the success of any health promotion campaign is involving all
of the pharmacy staff,” he says. “I always stress to my staff
that it is compulsory to participate in all campaigns as part of the
new contract. The staff need to know that, embrace it and be proactive.” Having
a dedicated area within the pharmacy where health promotion material
can be displayed has helped to attract people into the pharmacy, he adds.
Mr Patel also believes that monitoring and evaluating campaigns is an
important part of the process. For each campaign, he records how many
leaflets are issued, what advice is given in response to a question,
what advice is offered without a question, and how many customers are
referred to another person or organisation.
“This enables us to evaluate the campaign and discuss it as a team.
We look at what worked well, what did not work well and how it can be
improved
next time.” These data are also fed back to the PCT to inform future
campaigns.
Successful campaign tips for primary care organisations
• Have clear campaign aims and objectives
• Align the campaign to local and national health priorities
and inequalities
• Think about what other local initiatives could be involved
to enrich the campaign
• Communicate the campaign to other primary care providers, such
as GPs
• Hold pre-campaign briefings with community pharmacists
• Support pharmacy staff with appropriate materials and skills
development
• Tailor campaign resources and strategy to the target population
• Communicate successes to encourage others to participate in
future campaigns
• Evaluate and learn from the campaign to inform future programmes |
Successful campaign tips for community pharmacists
• Be proactive
• Engage pharmacy staff at all levels
• Attend pre-campaign briefings
• Have a dedicated area or board to display campaign material
within the pharmacy
• Be creative with displays by using props, such as plastic fruit
and vegetables or condoms when appropriate
• Make sure campaign posters stand out, for example, put them
at an angle, or even upside down
• Train counter staff and give them responsibility for campaign
tasks
• Back up oral advice with written information
• Signpost customers to appropriate agencies
• Record and evaluate the campaign and discuss the outcomes with
the pharmacy team |
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The
Pharmaceutical Journal