NICHS was at Tesco Ballymena last week as part of the charity’s current blood pressure awareness campaign.
NICHS was at Tesco Ballymena last week as part of the charity’s current blood pressure awareness campaign which aims to raise awareness about the number of people living with undetected high blood pressure, and the fact 1 in 2 heart attacks and strokes are linked to the condition.
Cathy Chambers, Community Health Promotion Manager at NICHS, says; “Over 280,000 people, or around 1 in 5 of the adult population in Northern Ireland, are living with high blood pressure¹ but there is a significant number of people, around 120,000, who have high blood pressure and do not realise it. Shockingly, this means at least a quarter of the adult population here live with high blood pressure. This gives us great cause for concern due to the link between high blood pressure with heart attacks and strokes.”
“Undetected high blood pressure is often known as ‘The Silent Killer’ due to the fact it rarely causes any physical symptoms or warning signs and is often only discovered after someone suffers a stroke or heart attack. The only way to know what your blood pressure is, and if it is high, is to have it measured and that is what we are urging the public to do through our campaign.”
Ronny McFall, Tesco Community Champion, Philip McGuigan MLA, Neil Johnston and Karina Scott, NICHS.
Ronny McFall, Tesco Community Champion, Colin Crawford MLA, Neil Johnston and Karina Scott, NICHS.
“We were delighted to have the opportunity to visit Tesco Ballymena to give shoppers an opportunity to have a free blood pressure check. The checks carried out really could have helped save someone’s life.”
“We would like to say a huge thank you to Tesco Ballymena, in particular Ronny McFall the store’s Community Champion, for supporting our blood pressure campaign and helping us bring this vital service to the local community.”
“If people couldn’t make it to Tesco Ballymena, we will be delivering further free blood pressure checks throughout May and June. The NICHS website and social media channels will have all the details about the pop-up checks so please follow us online for more information.”
Making the people of Ballymena aware of the importance of blood pressure to health isn’t the charity’s only aim as it has bigger, long-term plans to support local communities as Cathy explains; “NICHS is committed to contributing to a reduction in health inequalities, and to bringing resources and activities to local communities that encourage steps to healthier lifestyles.”
“We conducted extensive research, reviewing national and local statistics and wider evidence to identify underserved communities in Northern Ireland. This research led us to identify Ballymena, and in particular Ballykeel, Ballee and Harryville, as areas for piloting a targeted health intervention programme.”
“We started the pilot programme a few months ago and would like to thank all the local partners who supported us with this including Ballee Pharmacy, Mid East Antrim Affordable Food Club, Northern Area Community Network, to name a few. We have delivered 449 health checks at local partners’ sites to date and 39% of people who availed of the checks were signposted to their GP. In some areas this rate was as high as 60%. This showed significant need within these areas.”
“Having delivered health checks and developed partnerships in the areas over the last few months we are delighted to offer our Well Community Programme. The programme is free and has two strands, open to local groups and clubs, as well as individuals.”
“The Well Group Programme is an interactive, fun and engaging four-week programme which is tailored to the needs of the individual group taking part. It includes activities like nutrition and cooking workshops, physical activity programmes, our Well Mind programme, health checks, and more. Through the Well Group Programme, we want to help educate people on chest, heart and stroke risk factors as well as prevention, reduce social isolation, promote healthier lifestyle choices, empower behaviour change and increase the early detection of health conditions.”
“Following completion of the Well Group Programme, anyone eligible will be invited to take part in our Well You Personal Behaviour Change Programme. This is a free one-year programme with one-to-one coaching from NICHS’s trained Health Promotion team. The individual sets the goals for their health, and we support and motivate them to achieve them.”
Cathy concludes; “Through the Well Community Programme, we are looking forward to working with the people, community groups, and partner organisations of Ballykeel, Ballee and Harryville and to playing our part in making a positive difference to health in these communities. We would love to hear from local residents, clubs and groups who would be interested in getting involved with our Well Community Programme.”
If you or your community group/organisation are interested in finding out more about NICHS’s Well Community Programme, please contact wellcommunity@nichs.org.uk
