St. Joseph Hoag Health fights obesity with ‘Shop with Your Doc’ program
Primary care physicians shared nutrition advice with shoppers, even walking grocery store aisles with them.
The only time most people see their physicians is when they have a problem that brings them to the doctor’s office or hospital. St. Joseph Hoag Health decided to switch things up, putting doctors where people go to make nutrition decisions: the grocery store. Its success has earned it first place in the “Community Affairs” category of PR Daily’s 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Awards.
The St. Joseph Hoag Health system, which addresses needs in underserved and vulnerable populations in Northern and Southern California, Texas and New Mexico, understands that obesity rates are too high among youths and adults. Having doctors in the store to help guide nutrition decisions could make an impact.
Partnering with two grocery chains, the “Shop with Your Doc” events put doctors at tables in stores where they could offer advice, distribute educational materials and check blood pressure. Doctors even walked the grocery store aisles with shoppers, helping guide their purchase decisions.
As a result of the community-focused effort, doctors talked with 7,000 shoppers, distributed more than 4,000 information packets and checked the blood pressure of 500 people. Five hundred shoppers also signed up for St. Joseph’s online newsletter.
The campaign also generated impressive media coverage, reaching 6.5 million viewers.
Congratulations to the team at St. Joseph Hoag Health for an innovative program.
View More Corporate Social Responsibility Awards 2017 Winners.
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