by Andrew Turner
After reading Jacqui’s thoughts on verrucas last week I begun to think about the way the general public are ‘taught’ about issues concerning things such as health through legislation. Being a non smoker I was very interested to see how regulations to place warnings on cigarette packets would affect smokers. Are warnings with words or images an education as to the health hazards which smoking present? I was always doubtful, mainly as most smokers I knew were already aware of the dangers and so a warning in a large font or with a horrific picture was unlikely to discourage them.
Now I am at Nelson Croom I see that it isn’t the message that is ineffective but the way it is put across. On the side of a cigarette package surely what we’re trying to do is change people’s attitude to smoking? And, at Nelson Croom, we’d say that you don’t change attitudes by either giving more information or by just shouting louder at people. People need to engage, experience, and consider if they are to decide to change their behaviour. Yet for some reason those charged with getting these messages across seem to ignore this.
I saw this also in a recent article on addiction to prescription medicine. Last month the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) called for warnings to be placed on the front of some over the counter painkillers. This will be coupled with stronger warnings inside on the instruction leaflets. Is this likely to have an affect? I am not saying there isn’t a problem to be addressed, rather is this the way to do it?
Personally I tend to just take two tablets of any over the counter medication believing that is the right dose, and depending on the strength of it, avoid alcohol. This being the case I would not see the strong message inside the box at all and would view the warning on the front, as most smokers do with those on cigarette packs, with an initial shock that I slowly become accustomed too.
How many people read the instructions for medication or similar products? We all know Jacqui doesn’t for Bazooka and I believe it is a similar case for all. For this reason I find it hard to believe that government bodies persist in an approach of educating people on dangers around them in this method. I have no answers as to a better one but have a feeling one could be found that could be slightly more effective if they merely looked at how teachers, schools and learning providers across the board are shifting their views on the topic.
Comments