Health Promotion Board Raises An Army Of 10,000 Health Ambassadors

Singapore, 22 October 2011: To encourage Singapore residents to embrace healthy lifestyle habits and integrate these habits in their daily lives, the Health Promotion Board (HPB) is initiating a sweeping social movement by tapping on something as simple as the personal networks of ordinary people from all walks of life.

2. Launched at this year's National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign (NHLC), which kicked off today at the Sengkang Community Club by Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, this initiative will see HPB roping in about 10,000 advocates of healthy living by 2015, as part of its new Health Ambassador Network.

3. Made up of youths, young adults, parents and seniors, these ambassadors will be trained and equipped with knowledge on how to live healthily. Using a peer mentoring approach, they will then share healthy lifestyle tips with their family, friends, peers, neighbours and colleagues.

4. The Health Ambassador Network will also serve as a proactive feedback channel to gather valuable public insights on a broad spectrum of health-related issues, including health policies and programmes.

5. Currently, there are already 1,000 such ambassadors, who have participated in HPB initiatives such as Integrated Screening @ Whampoa, Walk for Dementia, 'I Quit', 'Lose to Win' , the National Brisk Walking Programme and the Senior Health Ambassador Programme.

6. Over the next three years, this support network of Health Ambassadors will be integral to HPB's vision of co-planning, co-creating and co-implementing with Singapore residents, healthpromoting communities across the island. This is aligned with the overall theme of NHLC 2011, which focuses on empowering everyone, from children to the elderly, to set healthy examples and encourage each other to stay healthy together.

7. “Any behavioural change is difficult, but studies have shown that we are often influenced by the people we interact with. By mobilising an army of Health Ambassadors, we aim to harness the power of peer influence to spark a health-promoting social movement that cuts across all demographics,” said Mr Ang Hak Seng, Chief Executive Officer, HPB. “HPB's aim is to have at least one health champion in every household.”

8. A newly-appointed Health Ambassador who has been organising health screenings and sharing healthy lifestyle tips with other Singapore residents living around Sengkang Community Club for about five years, Madam Samantha Wong, BBM, agreed that the power of peer influence can bring about positive social change. “I have seen how effective my friends and neighbours have been when they encourage the ones they love and care about to eat healthily and stay physically active,” she said.

Raising health literacy in Singapore

9. While the Health Ambassador Network will be instrumental in driving the uptake of a healthier lifestyle for all, HPB will also look into new ways to boost knowledge and understanding of health topics and lifestyle behaviour.

10. To raise greater awareness of health-related issues, HPB has developed an action plan to improve health literacy, defined by HPB as “the degree to which people have the ability to obtain, understand, assess and communicate health information and services needed to make healthier decisions”. These decisions occur at home, at work, in school, in the healthcare system and in society as a whole.

11. “Health literacy is not health education,” said Mr Ang. “Health literacy is a relatively new area of knowledge and research in Singapore as well as in many parts of the world, despite its important ramifications for health promotion and disease prevention. In Singapore, 96 per cent of its population aged 15 and above are literate, but this does not mean Singapore residents are health-literate and understand how to take proper care of their health.”

12. HPB is currently working on the following to improve health literacy: a) Develop a Health Literacy Measurement Tool to establish standards of health literacy in Singapore b) Issue Plain Language Guidelines to all health-related sectors, to ensure that health education materials are easy to understand and include a simple call to action c) Inclusion of health literacy in training curriculum for all health and allied health professionals as well as Health Ambassadors. Developing health-promoting ecosystems across Singapore

13. To further empower Singapore residents to take charge of their health, HPB is also introducing health-promoting ecosystems across Singapore. “Comprising health-promoting malls, schools, MRT stations, community clubs and hawker centres, these health-promoting ecosystems are conveniently designed and placed throughout the island to make healthy living easily accessible to every family in Singapore. By participating in mall walks regularly, enjoying healthy set meals in schools, using the stairs more frequently at train stations and consuming healthy whole-grain hawker fare, good healthy habits will gradually become part of our daily lives,” said Mr Ang.

Customising neighbourhood health facilities for residents

14. In addition, HPB is developing a Community Health Assessment Tool (CHAT) to help local constituencies measure the health literacy of their residents. This will allow community clubs to better assess the needs of their residents as well as guide them in the planning of activities.

15. HPB will then work with the CDCs to tailor specific programmes to meet the health needs of their residents, while health ambassadors will help implement the activities and promote healthy messages.

Tracking healthy progress the smart way

16. NHLC 2011 will also see the launch of the Interactive Diet and Activity Tracker (iDAT), a free smartphone application to help Singapore residents better manage their personal health.

17. “HPB developed the iDAT to help Singapore residents set realistic fitness goals by allowing them to figure out how much to eat or exercise daily in order to maintain a healthy weight,” said Mr Ang. “The iDAT also has its own social online community, which means that users can motivate and „challenge‟ one another, or organise group activities such as charity walks. Organisations or groups may even create their own online communities for campaigns or programmes.”

18. A fully integrated health application designed to track both food intake and physical activity, and calculate a user‟s calorie balance, iDAT is the first application in the world that is programmed with a scientifically-based algorithm specially designed for Singaporeans. Its calorie recommendations take into consideration the body types of Asians as well as the working lifestyle of Singaporeans.

Leveraging whole-of-Singapore collaborations

19. Commenting on these new programmes and initiatives, Mr Ang said: “It's about leveraging the three 'P's – the People in the community, the Public sector and the Private enterprises – to bring about a truly health-conscious and health-literate Singapore, where people can find, understand and use health-related information and services to enhance their quality of life.”

20. Some of HPB's partners include the Ministry of Education (MOE); Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS); National Parks Board (NParks); retail, food and fitness industries; as well as the People‟s Association (PA), whose Wellness Programme seeks to empower seniors aged 50 and above to lead healthy and active lives.

21. In collaboration with PA and grassroots organisations, for example, HPB will be transforming the Sengkang Community Club into a health promoting centre. In addition to visual cues and interactive exhibits reminding residents to adopt a healthy lifestyle, the Community Club will also have a team of grassroots Health Ambassadors to carry out simple BMI and blood pressure tests, give advice on follow-up medical care, and encourage residents to take up relevant, health-promoting activities organised by the Community Club.

Annex 1 Health Ambassador Network (HAN)
Annex 2 Health Literacy
Annex 3 Interactive Diet and Activity Tracker (iDAT)

Issued by Health Promotion Board

Media Release

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