The Health Promotion Board (HPB) was established in 2001 with the vision to

build a nation of healthy people. While Singaporeans generally have good health,
high life expectancy, and low mortality rates, there is a need to keep improving
the statuses of our health status and enjoy good health as the population ages.
In order to achieve these goals, HPBs role is to drive national health promotion
and disease prevention. The goals of the HPB is to increase the quality years of
healthy life and prevent illness, disability and premature death. A healthy nation
comprises of people with full lives and the HPB commits to that goal with health
promotion and disease prevention programmes.
The National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign 2013 led to initiatives such as Healthy
Workplace Ecosystem at Mapletree Business City. The HPB also launched the
One Million KG Challenge that had over 80,000 sign-ups and 42,000 pledges to
lose weight. Other initiatives like the Healthier Dining Programme also saw the
active adoption of preparing healthier meals by the partnered hawkers. Free
activities in neighbourhoods offering yoga and Zumba classes have also been
well-received by the community. Exhibitions focused on educating the population
on better dietary choices have also been held. The campaign has been overall a
success and we can build on the awareness in this years campaign
1. Defining the problem which involves monitoring knowledge, opinions, and
behaviours of the public.
2. Planning with the given information so as to decisions about the target
audience, objectives, action and communication strategies.
3. Taking action and communicating to achieve specific objectives for the
public
4. Evaluating the campaign to assess the extent of the objectives met.
Research Process
Research is important to understand why people make the dietary choices that
they do in order for us to understand what would be the best way to motivate
and educate the population to make healthier choices. Since the entire
population of Singapore may be too large for a feasible sample size, we can
focus on the the population in the Central Business District and the township of
Ang Mo Kio.
Assuming that for the first part, we focus on the workers in the CBD from
buildings between Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar. This would be a good mix of
the population from all walks of life with various income levels. What can be
done would be stationing a group of personnel outside the entrances of the
buildings and performing interviews with questionnaires asking about the lunch
habits of the working crowd. Questions about the food they choose for lunch can
be asked with the results tabulated to see if healthier choices are being preferred
over more calorie-laden foods. Personnel can also be stationed at the hawker
centre stalls in various food centres across the CBD to observe the proportion of
CBD workers who choose the healthier option (less oil, more vegetables) as
compared to others who choose the usual method of preparation. The opinions
on whether there are sufficient affordable heathier lunch choices can also be
polled to see if more is needed to be done to motivate the workers to make
better choices.
In the town of Ang Mo Kio, we may observe the usage of readily available fitness
corners in the various neighbourhood parks and recreational areas. Observations

can be conducted both in the morning and the evening where residents are more
prone to exercising. Interviews can also be conducted at various bus-stops to
understand the exercising habits of the residents in the area and check the
awareness of various healthy living options in the vicinity of their homes. The
questions that can be ask may also probe for frequency of exercise, duration of
exercise as well as whether there is conscious effort to make healthier choices
when it comes to diet. We can also find out the motivating factors of people
exercise on a regular basis and see if holding more activities may improve their
healthy lifestyle.
Planning Process
Assuming that the feedback from the people in the CBD is that while there are
healthy choices in the vicinity, the variety and awareness that they exist may not
be sufficient for a significant improvement in the level of healthy lifestyles that
the population may engage in. One of the objectives of this plan would therefore
be to improve awareness and educate the population about the healthier food
options that are available near them that may be already available at their
favourite food stalls. Since research will be conducted on by workers in the CBD,
they will be the target group who will help us promote and bring awareness to
the healthy eating choices that are available in their vicinity. This will not only be
have a positive impact for the CBD workers themselves, but also their companies
and stakeholders who will significantly benefit from better productivity that
stems from healthier workers who will have more energy to focus on giving their
best at work.
Assuming that the feedback from the people in the town of Ang Mo Kio is that
while there is ready access to workout facilities, there may be a lack of know-how
on how to use the equipment that prohibits residents who may be willing but
unable to use them for exercising. The objective, similar to the one in the above
plan , would be to improve awareness and education on the locations of the
exercise equipment near them and the know-how to use them. With this
knowledge, it might motivate residents who currently exercise to do it more
frequently and to also influence the people around them into becoming more
active and hence lead a healthier lifestyle.
Leaflets can be given out outside food and hawker centres explaining the calorie
count of popular hawker foods the modifications available to make the meal
healthier. The leaflets will be written in our four national languages to ensure the
best exposure. Lunchtime talks can also be held with samples of healthier choice
dishes, increasing familiarity with the heathier choice initiatives. In the
neighbourhoods, there can be carnivals organised around the use of fitness
equipment, neighbourhood walkabouts can be held over the weekends to
encourage participation and at the same time educate residents on the best
ways to use the equipment for a healthy and balanced active life. To motivate
people to join these activities, a mascot can be designed and goodie bags given
out at the various events.
Implementation Process
With efficient research and planning, different groups of personnel will be
required to successfully roll out the initiatives for this campaign. Efforts will be
focused on improving awareness for healthier living options in the vicinity of the
population. A suitable timeframe and budget will be estimated for this purposes.

Description
200 survey personnel

Budget ($)
300,000

100,000 Leaflets
Lunches Talks
50,000 Goodie Bags
Exercise Events

10,000
500,000
500,000
100,000

Timeframe
First 2 months of campaign and last
month
First 2 months
Throughout
6 months
1st Month

It will cost an estimated $1.4million to run this campaign for 6 months. The
consulting agency will be in charge of controlling all flows and processes, along
with budgets and expenses. An external contractor can be hired to conduct
surveys and and event planning agency can be hired for all relevant events.
Goodie bags will be planned, sourced and prepared before the campaign launch
in time for the first month.
During the first two months, the surveys will be conducted with the information
leaflets simultaneously distributed. Lunch talks will be planned and conducted
throughout the six months in the CBD. Goodie bags will be given out in the
events held to promote education and awareness of the fitness areas in
neighbourhoods.
The two remaining months of the six-month long campaign will be left to run on
its own so tha we can see the effectiveness of the research, planning, and
implementation of this plan.
Evaluation Process
Evaluation will need to be done, as with all campaigns in order to measure the
effectiveness of the measures taken to solve the problem. The problem, in this
case, would be the assumed lack of awareness of healthier options at food
centres as well as the lack of know-how to use exercise equipment in the fitness
corners of neightbourhoods.
Observation, similar from the measures done during the start of the campaign
can be proceeded with again at the end of the campaign to see if awareness has
helped more people make healthier choices and sustain a healthy lifestyle.
Surveys and requests for feedback can also be proceeded with to understand the
level of awareness the general public has of the initiatives. Random checks can
also be done to ask the public if the message of living a healthy lifestyle with the
options available have been communicated clearly to them and if they have
passed it on to family members and friends.
This is crucial in judging the benchmarks of success of the campaigns initiatives
and for future campaign planning and improvements.
Reference:
National Healthy Lifestyle Campaign 2014 celebrates Healthy Living Master Plan
achievements, raises awareness of healthy living options. (2014). Retrieved
August 1, 2915, from
http://www.hpb.gov.sg/HOPPortal/content/conn/HOPUCM/path/Contribution

Folders/up loadedFiles/HPB_Online/News_and_Events/News/2014/NHLC 2014

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