With the hot weather predicted to continue until October, Leeds CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) is piloting a Health Awareness Campaign which combines live artist-painted posters with weather-activated digital advertisements.
Launched this week, this initiative has created five health awareness messages which can be seen on 38 digital screens in the City Centre. The awareness message of the day will depend on the weather forecast, so if it’s high UV, then the message will be about covering up from the worst of the rays. If the pollen count is high, there’ll be allergy advice and of course there’ll be a prompt about keeping up your intake of fluids. There are also messages about asthma and reminders about medication.
So what about the live art? Well, in a first for the NHS, billboard posters will be painted as health notifications. The Leeds-based artist who has been commissioned to do this is Emma Hardaker, who is doing her creative work for a week. The billboard has 96 sheets.
If you’re wondering why there’s a need for this, then it’s primarily to help prevent the adverse effects of prolonged dry weather on all of us, but also to ease the pressure arising during protracted periods of hot weather on GP surgeries and A & E departments. Some simple measures can be taken by us all to reduce the risk of ending up in front of the medical profession.
Any vulnerable neighbours also spring to mind. It’s not only the cold temperatures which can be fatal for the elderly, for example.
This campaign has been created by Leeds-based integrated agency, Umpf, with media booked by out-of-home media owner Clear Channel. It runs until mid-September. For more information visit www.SummerHealth.co.uk
