The Importance of Health Promotion

Our Healthwatch Cancer Community Awareness Workers have recently received some very good feedback, highlighting the important role they carry out across the region.

“I was at the Healthwatch stand at a recent Health and Wellbeing Fair and I wanted to give some very grateful feedback to the team!

“I won a box of bath bombs in the raffle and at home I found it full of information about cancer screening etc. My 14-year-old son read the one about testicular cancer, then told me he thought he needed to go to the doctor and started crying. I took him to the GP who agreed that, while it’s unlikely to be anything nasty, something isn’t right and has referred him for an ultrasound.

“I know this kind of health promotion works but it’s amazing to see it in practice and that it might make a big difference in my family. I’m a nurse and bang on about health promotion and health literacy all the time and I can’t believe I missed this.

“I don’t really believe in fate but being at the fair, winning the raffle, choosing the prize, everything that led up to my son telling me that something was wrong really feels like it!

“Also, I had never really thought about the fact that a boy in his early teens might be unlikely to know what’s normal and what’s not even if they do know to check their balls – they probably don’t see other people’s!

“Thank you so, so much. The system works!”

(Shared with permission from parent)