MECC and Public Health
Coventry's Making Every Contact Count (MECC) project is a way of working, which will make a real difference to the health and wellbeing of local people.
MECC encourages frontline staff, using the thousands of conversations they have with the public each and every day, to talk about healthy lifestyles and to point people towards services or information which could help. This could include starting a conversation to encourage people to:
- stop smoking
- eat healthily
- keep to a healthy weight
- drink alcohol within the recommended daily limits
- do the recommended amount of physical activity
Through training and resources, MECC supports staff to find the right way to ask people about their healthy lifestyles and help them get any help they need. It's not about staff telling someone how to live their life - it's about staff taking the opportunity to help.
There is a great deal of research which tells us that this way of working makes a difference. The programme is city-wide and reaches across both the public and voluntary sectors - not just NHS staff. Local people will then have consistent messages, information and support to make positive changes to their lives, whichever service they are in touch with.
Please visit our Healthy lifestyles pages for more information and advice about health and wellbeing services in Coventry.