The sun shone and dozens turned out to take up an opportunity to learn more about health and wellbeing at an event in south Cumbria supported by the Innovation Agency.
The HARRI (Health, Advice, Recovery, Resilience, Information) engagement vehicle visited Kendal on Thursday 27th May giving residents and visitors the opportunity to speak to health, care and community professionals about their needs and find out more about services available.
Professionals offered a wide range of information and signposting on many issues including quitting smoking, diabetes, mental health, sleep difficulties, health and wellbeing courses, support for carers and youth support.
Working with Bay Health and Care Partners, the Innovation Agency’s team offered pulse and blood pressure tests and gave advice on cholesterol, focusing on heart health which will be the subject of a major campaign later this year.
Debbie Parkinson, Public Involvement Lead for the Innovation Agency the Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast, said: “We had a brilliant response – within minutes we’d offered advice to a visitor who was referred to her GP for a more detailed assessment. It’s important to ‘#know your numbers’ when it comes to your health and matters of the heart. We’re looking forward to taking part in more events like this so people can learn more about themselves and spot when things go wrong and get the help and advice they may need.”
The work is part of a long running campaign to raise awareness of heart health. Read more about earlier work here >