Understanding Health Risk
Hands up if you play the National Lottery. I ask this question in many of my workshops and it always sparks an interesting conversation. The lottery is a great demonstrator for how we interpret odds and chance. The odds of winning the jackpot on a Saturday draw is less than 1 in 14 million. There are over 14 million different combinations of 6 numbers than can come from the draw. Given that there are many more than 14 million lines of lotto numbers bought for each Saturday, there is a high chance (although not guaranteed) there will be at least one winner each week.
If we really understood what the chances are of winning the jackpot, I think it’s very unlikely as many of us would play it. In fact, if you bought a ticket for a Saturday draw any earlier than 36 hours before it closed, the odds are greater you’d be dead before the draw took place than for you to win the jackpot. Our brains don’t handle the big numbers; 14 million is a lot, but so is 150,000, or 10,000. Our internal computers know the chances are small but we struggle to grasp actually just how remote the winning probability is.
We’ve also read about lotto winners and how the windfall has changed their lives and the lives of the people around them. They are people like us and we reason that if people just like us can win the jackpot then so can we. The giant “IT'S YOU” God-like hand in the lotto adverts was a stroke of genius as it made us all feel that the possibility of winning was higher than it really was.
Think about the mainstay of health improvement messages that are driven out to the public in the UK. Most of them are wrapped up in numbers and future health risk percentages. For example, “did you know that in Wales, 10,000 people each year die from CHD. If you increase your physical activity levels to 5 x 30 minutes each week, you will reduce the risk of developing...” and then we reel off all the relative percentage risks of developing lurking nasty diseases and conditions that we would be exposing ourselves to by being inactive. Read more >>
The Smoke-Free Experience
National No Smoking Day is fast approaching on 9th March 2011 and we have a brand new lifestyle challenge designed for just the occasion.
Smokers are challenged to go smoke-free for 21 days and attach a sticker to their challenge card for each day they succeed.
The Smoke-Free Experience is a challenge set consisting of a challenge card, mini certificate, evaluation form and stickers. Each set will be adapted to accomodate your local brand and signpost to your local stop smoking service. |
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To order your Smoke-Free Challenge resources, complete an order form and email or fax back to us. |
"Why public health should be more like the best theme park in the world and less like your local bank"
This is the title of the keynote speech Denise will be delivering at the North West Health and Physical Activity Forum's "Innovations" Conference in Preston on 10th February 2011. This event, also boasts a superb line-up of keynotes from Dr Ruth Hussey (Regional Director of Public Health, NHS North West), Dr Harry Rutter (Director of the National Obesity Observatory) and Dr Charlie Foster (British Heart Foundation Health Promotion Research Unit, University of Oxford). |
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This event is organised by Events Northern and for further information, including the full programme and details of how to book your place, visit:
http://innovationinpa.eventbrite.com/
Achieving a Work-Life Balance Workshops
Work-related stress and anxiety are the new back pain and trip hazards, causing the majority of sickness-related absence from work.
This 3-hour workshop accompanies our new book "Achieving a Work-Life Balance". We take delegates on the search for happiness and look at both sides of the well known stress-performance inverted "U-curve". We explore techniques to help employees overcome the negative effects of stress whilst looking at ways of motivating them towards a healthier lifestyle and the work-related and personal goals which mean the most to them.
Who is it for? This workshop is suitable for HR and Occupational Health Managers or for anyone who leads a team of people that they would like to inspire towards a healthier, happier and less stressed lifestyle.
Cost: £40 +VAT per delegate and each delegate receives a copy of "Achieving a Work-Life Balance" (ISBN 978-0956369819), worth £12.99.
Hampson Solutions Ltd, Commodore House, 51 Conway Road, Colwyn Bay, Conwy LL29 7AW
Tel: 01492 530700 | Mobile: 07727 642846 | Fax: 01492 517815
Email: denise@hampsonsolutions.co.uk | Web: www.hampsonsolutions.co.uk
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