Campaign urges public to visit their pharmacy to manage winter illnesses

The public is being urged to work with their pharmacist to tackle illnesses that are more prevalent in winter such as coughs and colds. The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) and the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) are making the call in a newly launched self care awareness campaign, entitled ‘Be Well this this Winter – Think Pharmacy’

The campaign will be rolled out over a four-week period and involves social media video content based on a series of emoji characters. The first video is about colds and will be followed by cough, sore throat and first aid over the coming four weeks. This is the third iteration of the ‘Be Well’ campaign, which enjoyed an impressive reach with 667,000 impressions on Facebook and Twitter. The campaign also involves the distribution of posters to retail pharmacies to actively promote self care throughout the winter as well as the valuable role of the pharmacist in supporting it.

Self care is defined as the care taken by people of their own health and wellbeing (at the lowest level of complexity) with appropriate support and advice from a healthcare professional. Self care supports people to stay healthy, especially during more vulnerable times, and empowers people to manage important elements of their own and their loved one’s healthcare needs.

While many people are known to take a more conscious approach to self care during the winter months, and particularly during the flu season, this campaign is designed to highlight the ongoing benefits of self care throughout the year.

IPHA Consumer Healthcare Division Chairman John Sheehy said, “This is the third manifestation of the “Be Well” series which IPHA has run with its valued partners the IPU. The value of self care to our society is immense and it is hoped that this latest campaign will encourage people to manage their own health this winter in a more pro-active way.”

Speaking about the initiative IPU President Daragh Connolly said, “Embracing a philosophy of self care can lead to real, measurable savings in healthcare expenses and better outcomes for patients; pharmacists can play a critical role in this area.  Allowing pharmacists to work to their full scope would help to deliver better patient outcomes, by utilising our accessibility and professional capabilities to benefit patients, in partnership with our healthcare colleagues and the pharmaceutical industry.”

You can view the first video here: Be Well This Winter