ENCOURAGING A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE THROUGH HEALTH PROMOTING COMMUNITY CLUBS
Singapore, 7 April 2011: The Health Promotion Board (HPB) has embarked on a pilot project to develop Health Promoting Community Clubs with the aim of creating supportive environments for Singaporeans to lead a healthy lifestyle.
Health Promoting Community Club
2. “The concept of a Health Promoting Community Club, or HPCC, adopts a ground up approach to spur Singaporeans to lead a healthy lifestyle. We are partnering community clubs as they are important community spaces for young and old alike to come together and interact and bond in convenient environments near their homes,” said Mr Ang Hak Seng, Chief Executive Officer, HPB.
3. “In developing a HPCC, HPB looked into several aspects to facilitate the adoption of a healthy lifestyle. For instance, we have incorporated health promoting features into the built environment of a CC, such as unique signs and stickers to encourage stair use and physical activity, which the public can easily notice. The Health Corner feature is also another built environment enhancement where residents can pick up health information booklets and other health-related resources, or perform simple health checks like measuring their body mass index and blood pressure,” elaborated Mr Ang.
4. At a participation level, engaging and interesting health promotion activities and courses will be available at HPCCs. Additionally, grassroots leaders at HPCCs will undergo training by HPB to enable them to become Health Promotion Ambassadors. These ambassadors will, in turn, mentor and influence others to take action in managing their health, facilitate peer learning among small groups of residents; and help recruit friends, relatives and neighbours for the health interest groups that will be established.
Bukit Timah CC – Singapore’s first Health Promoting Community Club
Supportive Health Environment
5. A conducive environment for a healthy lifestyle has been established at Bukit Timah Community Club (BTCC). Strategically positioned visual cues, like directional stickers on the floor for instance, serve to prompt residents and visitors to take the stairs. Posters are also affixed next to the lift as another visual reminder to use the stairs. Coupled with other visual cues such as encouraging tips and messages painted on stairwell walls, the objective is to encourage residents to live a healthy lifestyle through being physically active.
6. At the Health Corner at BTCC, residents can readily access the available health information booklets and other health-related resources; learn about the various healthy lifestyle activities such as healthy cooking classes, exercise courses and wellness talks conducted at the community club; or self administer simple health checks like calculating body mass index (BMI) or measuring their blood pressure.
Healthy Lifestyle Activities and Courses
7. Supermarket tours will be introduced at BTCC to bring the public to the supermarkets to learn about making healthier choices when buying food and beverage items. For example, they will be taught to read nutrition labels on food packaging, and to select healthier choice food products identified by the Healthier Choice Symbol. Healthier Choice food products are typically lower in salt, sugar, saturated fat and transfat, or higher in wholegrains.
8. To make exercising fun, residents can also expect a greater variety of physical activities at the community club. To manage stress, mental health workshops will be organised.
Health Promotion Ambassadors (HPAs)
9. Twenty grassroots leaders from BTCC have attended courses organised by HPB to be HPAs. These courses equip the HPAs with communication and negotiation skills to recruit, mentor, influence and steer residents towards healthy living. For example, the HPAs will motivate fellow residents to attend health screening to find out their health status; see a doctor for follow-up of any abnormal health screening results; and encourage a change of unhealthy practices (e.g. quit smoking, increase physical activity, lose weight, eat more fruit and vegetables, reduce fat in their diet). The HPAs will also be able to conduct simple health screening such as measuring BMI (body mass index) and taking blood pressure.
Annex: Launch of the First Health Promoting Community Club at Bukit Timah Community Club Programme
Issued by Health Promotion Board