Hairdressers who solve the world’s problems during chats with their customers could be onto something.
Now students in Calderdale are being encouraged to offer friendly advice on alcohol awareness as part of their training, with health chiefs describing it as a novel way of promoting healthy advice and lifestyle tips.
As part of its support of Alcohol Awareness Week, with the theme ‘know the risks’, Calderdale Council held briefings with students at Calderdale College to help them increase their knowledge of the effects of alcohol use and the impact it has on health.
The briefings supplemented the work done by the council’s Public Health team to raise awareness of issues related to alcohol abuse and excessive drinking. The idea is that in their future careers, the students could support such work through day-to-day conversations with their clients, providing healthy lifestyle tips and advice.
Paul Butcher, Calderdale’s Director of Public Health, said: “Having a short, evidence-based conversation around alcohol consumption and the associated risks has been proven to be an effective way of motivating people to reduce their drinking. Chatting with a hairdresser or beautician could be the first step in people recognising they have an issue with alcohol use.”
