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The NHS will fail to tackle the rising tide of obesity and tobacco related illnesses unless it adopts more sophisticated techniques including those employed by commercial advertisers to help people to live healthier lifestyles. So said the King’s Fund when it published the results of a year-long investigation into the effectiveness of different types of public health programmes to tackle smoking, alcohol misuse, poor diet and lack of exercise.The report finds that these behaviours are deep-rooted social habits that are not easily changed by one-off, short-lived measures. The report also adds that many NHS staff lack the necessary skills and incentives to effectively help people choose and maintain healthier lifestyles.

Commissioning and behaviour change: Kicking Bad Habits final report recommends the following.

• The NHS needs to make better use of social marketing techniques and data analysis tools like geodemographics to identify, target and effectively communicate messages and motivate people to change how they live.
• Public health programmes shouldn’t rely on just one approach – such as information campaigns or financial incentives – as the evidence shows the most effective behaviour change interventions employ a variety of tactics.
• A robust evaluation – of short- and long-term changes in behaviour and health outcomes – should be made a requirement of all public health programmes in order to build an evidence base for the future.
• Frontline staff should be more proactive in promoting healthy habits to the patients they see every day and for contracts and incentives to be used to encourage such behaviour.
• Government departments and local agencies involved in tackling unhealthy behaviours must better co-ordinate their efforts and ensure that targets are agreed to support their shared objectives.

www.kingsfund.org.uk/media/kicking_bad_habits.html