The government White Paper, Choosing Health, set out a commitment to improve the nation’s health by helping people to make healthier choices. Along with the Wanless Report, it recognised that encouraging positive health behaviour (and related behaviour change), can be complex and challenging. To achieve this requires sustained and coordinated action across sectors and at all levels.
While awareness-raising approaches to health communication are important, it is increasingly recognised that these on their own are unlikely to achieve the improvement in health and reduction in health inequalities required in the government's PSA targets.
Social marketing was, therefore, specifically highlighted in the white paper as an important and under-used approach that had real potential to enhance and make a significant contribution to both national and local work.
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"The cross-government white paper therefore announced the commissioning of a major review of social marketing and work on establishing the first national social marketing strategy for health." |
This focus on social marketing recognises that while there have been some important and positive examples of social marketing work in this country, we have not been fully realising the potential of the approach. And in relation to some countries (such as Canada, America and Australia), we are under-developed in this area.
Now that the white paper commitment has been achieved and our independent review report It's our health! has been produced, the Department of Health has accepted the basis of its findings and is working on its strategic response to implement its recommendations. One part of this will be agreeing resources and a new work programme for the NSMC to follow up and help build capacity and skills in social marketing across the country.
