Barwon Health will save over 55,000 teaspoons of sugar being sold to their staff and visitors by navigating barriers to change with multiple stakeholders.
Using place-based approaches for prevention and health promotion interventions can influence environments (like health services) where people spend their time. It is important that Barwon Health is a leader in prevention and health promotion and provides an environment that is healthy for staff and visitors.
Since September 2022, the drinks sold from the four Barwon Health cafés and 12 vending machines meet the targets set by the Victorian Government’s, Healthy Choices: policy directive for health services . This was a major undertaking, as Barwon Health has the largest in-house retail food environment across any public health service in the state.
Collaboration between the Healthy Communities Unit (HCU) and Food Services team was imperative to the success. Regular strategic and progress meetings between HCU and Food Services, staff training, audits and working with suppliers to source products were key actions to the successful rollout of this intervention.
The power of this partnership continues to be crucial as Barwon Health move to the next phase of refreshing the food environment in their cafes and vending.
Watch this space for more blog stories about how other organisations have implemented the Healthy Choices: policy directive for health services.