Home > Corporate > Media Centre
Working together for a healthier Force
By Gina Gillespie
There's nothing like a challenge to bring people together, and the "May 1st I Quit" challenge is a particularly worthy cause. For the second year in a row, the Strengthening the Forces Health Promotion team challenged smokers in the DND community (both military and civilian) to stop smoking for a minimum of four weeks beginning May 1st, 2004. And this year, SISIP Financial Services joined CANEX as a sponsor of the contest. Their added support meant more prizes than last year, $17,000 worth in all.
In many locations, members who signed up for the challenge received a confirmation coupon, which CANEX rewarded with a free water bottle, breath mints, discounts on nicotine replacement therapies, and double CANEX Club XTra points. An important part of the process was the two personal sponsors required to support every participant, offering encouragement and advice. And forces wide, Health Promotion staff, Base Surgeons, nurses, medical staff, and unit leaders worked together to help and support anyone who took the challenge.
"Those are all ways that our sponsors, and the community as a whole jumped in to promote this," says Daryl Allard, Health Promotion Delivery Manager (East). "The local/national partnerships and cooperation between organizations, divisions, units and sections has made the challenge a true success story, echoing the theme of this year's NPF conferences of working together."
Of the participants in last year's challenge, 47 per cent were still smoke-free after six months.
This year, about 1,100 people signed up for the challenge. Each person was supported by two sponsors, bringing total participation to 3,300.
"Anytime you get over 1,000 people to participate in a health promotion program, you're doing something well," says Allard. "We're extremely pleased with those results. You're hitting a significant chunk of smokers, so it's having a positive impact on the health of a lot of CF members out there."
