Cancer Research UK’S obesity campaign in 2018 and 2019: effective health promotion or perpetuating the stigmatisation of obesity?

2020 ◽  
pp. medethics-2020-106192
Author(s):  
Natasha Varshney
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Cancer Research ◽  
Social Marketing ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
Premature Death ◽  
Ethical Principles ◽  
The Public ◽  
Important Message ◽  
Public Health Message ◽  
The Uk

In 2018 and 2019 Cancer Research UK (CRUK) launched a controversial advertising campaign to inform the British public of obesity being a preventable cause of cancer. On each occasion the advertisements used were emotive and provoked frustration among the British public which was widely vocalised on social media. As well serving to educate the public of this association, the advertisements also had the secondary effect of acting as health promotion through social marketing, a form of advertising designed to influence behavioural changes. As CRUK delivered a public health message through its campaign, the advertisements should be held according to the ethical principles which underpin healthcare in the UK. This article evaluates whether the advertisements used by CRUK in 2018 and 2019 fulfilled the ethical principles of beneficence, autonomy, non-maleficence and justice. It is found that while providing an important message, the oversimplification of obesity as being the result of personal decisions ignored the complex aetiology and served to stigmatise the target demographic, potentially disengaging them from the message. Additionally, posting cancer as the consequence of obesity invokes feelings of fear due to its connotations of suffering and premature death. Based on available evidence, the use of fear in social marketing does not create sustained behavioural change. This essay recommends that CRUK discontinue its use of such strategies in its future social marketing endeavours.

scholarly journals Penetration of Time to Change leaflets on stigmatised attitudes to people with mental illness

2012 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 371-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vania Mendes ◽  
Joby Maducolil Easow ◽  
Jason Luty
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Small Proportion ◽  
General Public ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Health Message ◽  
The Public ◽  
People With Mental Illness ◽  
Public Health Message ◽  
The Uk

Aims and methodTo determine whether members of the general public read a leaflet from the Time to Change anti-stigma campaign. The leaflets were sent to 1000 members of the public at random. Those who read the leaflet were asked, in a statement concealed within the text, to return it. A second study involved modified leaflets being posted to 400 members of a representative panel of the UK general public.ResultsOnly 20 of the 1000 (2%) people who received the unsolicited leaflet returned them, which suggests that the vast majority were unread. However, the leaflet achieved a good response in the sample from the research panel with at least 29% of participants (115 of 400) reading the leaflet.Clinical implicationsA very small proportion of people acknowledge unsolicited leaflets. However, the leaflet was read by almost a third of a research panel. Hence, few people are likely to read unsolicited leaflets, including those containing a public health message.

scholarly journals Health Effects of Waterpipe Tobacco Use: Getting the Public Health Message Just Right

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
pp. 1179173X1769605 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Ali ◽  
Mohammed Jawad
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Health Effects ◽  
Tobacco Product ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Health Messages ◽  
Waterpipe Tobacco Smoking ◽  
Numerical Magnitudes ◽  
Public Health Message

Many public health messages benchmark the harms of waterpipe tobacco against those of cigarettes, usually using numerical magnitudes of risk. This approach, although well intentioned, could be perceived as alarmist, damaging scientific credibility, and giving an unintended impression that one tobacco product is less harmful than the other. This commentary makes clear the harm waterpipe tobacco smoking poses to public health by describing its mechanism of use, consumption uptake, toxicologic profile, and documented health outcomes, as well as challenge existing thinking that toxicologic assessments are the most appropriate way to frame waterpipe tobacco health promotion messages. How can we describe the health effects of waterpipe tobacco without undermining its toxicity nor falling into the temptation of alarmist messaging? Several recommendations are provided.

Bringing the public on board: health promotion and social marketing in deprived communities

2010 ◽  
pp. 541-550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim White
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Social Marketing ◽  
The Public ◽  
Large Numbers

Chapter 58 looks at two related issues: how to develop approaches that can allow very large numbers of people to access help, while ensuring those approaches are congruent with the needs of a deprived community.

Private Sector Policies for Caregiving Employees: A Survey of Scottish Companies

1997 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 399-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARY L. M. GILHOOLY ◽  
CALUM REDPATH
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Older People ◽  
Elder Care ◽  
Community Care ◽  
The Public ◽  
Chamber Of Commerce ◽  
Flexible Working ◽  
Mentally Impaired ◽  
The Uk

The aim of the study was to examine Scottish private sector employers' policies with regard to flexible working arrangements for carers of physically and mentally impaired older people. The questions addressed by this study were as follows : (1) Are employers aware of the needs of carers? (2) To what extent do they view carers' needs or responsibilities as problematic? (3) What proportion of companies have specific policies regarding flexible working arrangements to accommodate carers' responsibilities? (4) What is the ‘nature’ of these policies? (5) Are flexible policies with regard to caregiving responsibilities viewed by companies as part of ‘health promotion’ in the workplace? (6) In what ways do company characteristics influence policy on carers' responsibilities?, and (7) What, if any, initiatives have been adopted to help employees plan for caregiving responsibilities? One thousand questionnaires were sent to companies drawn from the Scottish Chamber of Commerce National Directory 1993; 32 per cent were returned completed and in time for analysis. The majority (92 per cent) of companies had never previously considered the issue of employees' elder care responsibilities. Although expressing considerable sympathy, as well as some responsiveness and flexibility with regard to working arrangements for caregiving employees, the results of the survey indicate that Scottish companies in the private sector are providing little in the way of direct or indirect support to the UK community care reforms. However, informal contacts during the project indicated that the public and voluntary sectors may be more flexible and have begun to develop specific policies with regard to the needs of caregiving employees.

Editorial: Antisemitism in the UK Labour Party

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Klaff
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
Research Note ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Exciting Development

I am pleased to publish an open-access online preprint of two articles and a research note that will appear in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism 3, no. 2 (Fall 2020). This preprint is a new and exciting development for the Journal. It has been made possible by the generous donations from sponsors, including BICOM's co-chairman, David Cohen, whose support for the work of the Journal allows for timely scholarly analysis to be put into the public sphere.

An Expert Ranked List of Pro-nature Conservation Behaviours for Public Use

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Barbett ◽  
Edward Stupple ◽  
Michael Sweet ◽  
Miles Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
General Population ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Ranked List

The planet is facing an anthropogenic mass extinction of wildlife, which will have a grave impact on the environment and humans. Widespread human action is needed to minimize the negative impact of humans on biodiversity and support the restoration of wildlife. In order to find effective ways to promote pro-nature conservation behaviours to the general population, there is a need to provide a list of behaviours which will have worthwhile ecological impact and are worth encouraging. In a novel collaboration between psychologists and ecologists, 70 experts from practical and academic conservation backgrounds were asked to review and rate 48 conservation related behaviours. According to their judgement, this short paper presents a ranked list of pro-nature conservation behaviours for the public in the UK and similar landscapes. This includes behaviours people can engage in in their homes, their gardens, on their land, and in their roles as citizens.

Engagement, Innovation, and Impact in a Dietitian Contact Centre: The EatRight Ontario Experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 106-111
Author(s):  
Cameron D. Norman ◽  
Helen Haresign ◽  
Barry Forer ◽  
Christine Mehling ◽  
Judith Krajnak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Healthy Eating ◽  
Professional Support ◽  
Service Access ◽  
Nutritional Knowledge ◽  
Dietary Changes ◽  
The Public ◽  
Contact Centre ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: EatRight Ontario (ERO), a multi-modal dietitian service (phone, email, web), provided the public and health intermediaries with healthy eating advice, professional support, and health promotion tools from 2007 to 2018. An evaluation of ERO was conducted to assess the impact of the model on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour for consumers, utilization, and support levels and satisfaction provided to health intermediaries. Methods: Consumer clients were sent a survey 1–4 weeks after using the ERO service to capture self-reported dietary changes, intentions, nutritional knowledge, and satisfaction. Health intermediaries were recruited through an electronic ERO newsletter and asked about how ERO supported their practice. Results: Of the 867 consumer respondents, 92% had either made a change or indicated that information from ERO confirmed their present behaviour, and 96% indicated they would recommend the services to others. Of the 337 health intermediaries who responded 71% indicated that ERO provided services they could not deliver. Conclusions: ERO’s multi-modal dietitian contact centre provides a model for implementing successful remote service access for consumers and professionals to support healthy eating across diverse demographics and geographies, including those in geographically underserved areas.

Archaeologists and the Dead

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Historical Context ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
International Context ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Experience Effect

This volume addresses the relationship between archaeologists and the dead, through the many dimensions of their relationships: in the field (through practical and legal issues), in the lab (through their analysis and interpretation), and in their written, visual and exhibitionary practice--disseminated to a variety of academic and public audiences. Written from a variety of perspectives, its authors address the experience, effect, ethical considerations, and cultural politics of working with mortuary archaeology. Whilst some papers reflect institutional or organizational approaches, others are more personal in their view: creating exciting and frank insights into contemporary issues that have hitherto often remained "unspoken" among the discipline. Reframing funerary archaeologists as "death-workers" of a kind, the contributors reflect on their own experience to provide both guidance and inspiration to future practitioners, arguing strongly that we have a central role to play in engaging the public with themes of mortality and commemoration, through the lens of the past. Spurred by the recent debates in the UK, papers from Scandinavia, Austria, Italy, the US, and the mid-Atlantic, frame these issues within a much wider international context that highlights the importance of cultural and historical context in which this work takes place.

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