HOT NEWS

ICE wins six new major contracts in just two weeks!

Hot News

ICE has picked up a series of new client accounts in recent weeks, totalling around £250,000 and reflecting our growing national presence.

The latest wins include public health campaigns for Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT, NHS Stoke on Trent and North Staffordshire, NHS Barking and Dagenham, Heart of Birmingham tPCT, NHS Stockton-on-Tees and NHS Coventry.

The works centres primarily around our specialism in social marketing - educating communities and supporting positive behaviour change on public health issues as diverse as smoking prevention, dental needs, breastfeeding, mental health and physical activity.

Stuart Jackson, ICE's Chief Executive, says, "Securing this work further underpins our growing reputation as 'change experts' and we're delighted to have been chosen by these organisations to work in partnership with them to reduce health inequalities and improve opportunities for these communities."

He adds, "This has been a big year for ICE and we've grown at a rapid pace, which is testament to the great work our passionate and skilled team deliver on time and time again. We're determined to carry this momentum through to 2010 and beyond."

november 09 other stories...

Feature - from Page 1

Feature

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a term used for a number of conditions, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, which are exacerbated by smoking and occupational factors such as coal dust. It’s one of the world’s leading causes of death, however, it remains a relatively little-known condition.

Last week World COPD Day (Wednesday 18 November) aimed to raise awareness of COPD, its causes and its symptoms. So it’s timely that ICE’s Social Marketers are working with NHS Coventry on a COPD project, to deliver an insight-led awareness and promotion campaign which increases knowledge, early diagnosis and self-management of the condition. Another key behavioural aim is to encourage use of the local quit smoking service.

We’re currently moving into the second phase of the project, after carrying out extensive research to find out what local people in Coventry think about services for people with COPD and other respiratory conditions. This included piloting a questionnaire and focus groups for people with mild, moderate and severe symptoms and one-to-one interviews with people who were housebound as a result of COPD.

Aaron Garside, Senior Social Marketing Practitioner at ICE, said, “This is a fantastic example of a project where we’ve been able to work closely with the local community to understand their needs and motivations, and how we can facilitate better access to services and reduce inequalities.

“COPD is a debilitating condition and it is important to be sensitive to individual circumstances, so we can create messaging and interventions which positively resonate with our target groups.”

Esther Peapell, Head of Public and Patient Involvement at NHS Coventry, added, “The feedback from the patients and carers who’ve been involved in this social marketing project has been extremely positive, with comments that ICE’s facilitators were professional, friendly and sensitive to the personal stories that were being shared.

“The report which ICE produced for NHS Coventry commissioners provided clear recommendations for the second stage of the project, entailing a raising awareness campaign throughout the city and picking up on the themes that patients and carers have identified as important to them. I’d be happy to work with ICE again and have confidence in their ability to engage with vulnerable people in the community.”

We’re now pushing forward with phase two of the project, which will see us developing interventions alongside NHS Coventry and pre-testing our initial concepts and approach with local people to gauge effectiveness.