Public health: news and campaigns
Youth vaping is a significant public health challenge, and one that touches the lives of children and young people across the county.
Would your school like to get involved in a new youth vaping prevention campaign that has been co-produced by Hertfordshire County Council and local young people?
The campaign, called ‘Vape Brain’, was inspired by focus groups, survey feedback and informal conversations with young people, who spoke about the mental health impact of addiction to nicotine vapes and the desire to open-up conversations about the subject.
It aims to raise awareness of the risks associated with addiction to nicotine vapes and help young people make informed choices not to vape.
Art installation
We have worked with local art students to develop a large sculpture that we can deliver to your school free of charge to host for one week. It aims to be a talking point and conversation-starter, to help to raise awareness of our key campaign messages.
Lesson plan
We have put together a lesson plan and information pack to help guide a form group or PSHE session about vaping during the week that the sculpture is in your school.
Webpage
We are creating a webpage that young people can visit for information about what vapes contain, tips for quitting, mythbusters and signposting to further sources of support. It hosts a reporting button for young people to feed anonymous intelligence to our Trading Standards team about underage/illegal vape sales.
Social media campaign
To support the school tour, we will also be running a social media campaign to reach out to young people directly. We need young people who have been/still are addicted to vapes to come forward to tell their story to help us develop the content for this campaign. This can be anonymously if preferred, as we will be capturing content in a number of ways. To put forward willing volunteers, please contact joanne.necchi@hertfordshire.gov.uk
If your school would like to book the sculpture to visit your school, please email rushma.patel@hertfordshire.gov.uk
The MECC (Making Every Contact Count) Training is now live. The training is tailored to children and young people and is available for free:
MECC Training for professionals working with Children and Young People
You interact with a young person responding with multiple choice options, aiming to understand all of their related issues.
The Children and Young Person Team want to transform their communications from outdated websites and posters to short form videos and social media. Please ask students to fill out this survey for their opinion to be heard across the council:
Think Pharmacy First
Did you know that Pharmacies can now offer NHS clinical appointments with medication available if required for four clinical conditions particularly relevant to school age children?
- Earache (Children aged 1-17)
- Sore Throat (over 5s)
- Infected Insect bites (Over 1s)
- Impetigo (Over 1s)
Visit your local pharmacy for more information.
To find a local pharmacy see: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/pharmacy/find-a-pharmacy
Diabetes UK have re-launched the 4 T’s campaign to raise awareness of signs and symptoms of Type 1 diabetes in children & young people. This is especially important currently when people may delay or avoid seeking medical advice or treatment because of social distancing measures due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The early signs and symptoms of Type 1 diabetes are easy to mistake for a viral infection or other illness, which is why it’s so important to be 4T aware.
What are the 4Ts?
- toilet - going to the toilet a lot, bed wetting by a previously dry child or heavier nappies in babies
- thirsty - being really thirsty and not being able to quench the thirst
- tired - feeling more tired than usual
- thinner - losing weight or looking thinner than usual
Please seek urgent/same day medical advice if your child or young person has any of these symptoms to ensure prompt diagnosis and treatment.
This guidance is for ALL schools in Hertfordshire, providing you with information that can help you to ensure children are eating healthily during the school day, enabling them to have the energy and focus required to do well academically and to stay happy and healthy.
Flu is an acute viral infection of the respiratory tract. It is most common during the winter months.
People often describe colds as flu, but symptoms of flu come on very suddenly and are much more severe than a cold.
Flu symptoms are:
- a high fever
- shivering
- headache
- an aching body; and extreme tiredness
How is flu spread?
Flu is caught through droplets of saliva that spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes. These droplets can then be breathed in by other people or they can be picked up by touching surfaces, toys and equipment where the droplets have landed.
Children of 2, 3 and 4 years are now routinely offered flu vaccination. Pilot vaccination programmes for school aged children are taking place in some parts of the country.
Why are some children of school age offered flu vaccine?
If children suffer from certain types of illness then catching flu can be serious. These children may not be able to fight off ‘flu as effectively as other children can or it might make their existing condition worse.
These conditions include:
severe asthma, diabetes and heart conditions and children who are immunosuppressed.
If you know of children in your school who suffer from these conditions please be aware that they are especially vulnerable and encourage them to seek advice on ‘flu vaccination from their GPs.
Good hand hygiene by all is a great way of preventing most infection!