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Farm Families Health Checks team gets set for busy Balmoral Show

The Farm Families Health Checks team from the Northern Health and Social Care Trust is looking forward to sharing lots of useful health and wellbeing advice at Balmoral Show.

They’ll be there throughout the event from May 10^th -13^th offering blood pressure, cholesterol, and Body Mass Index (BMI) checks, along with diabetes screening, mental health assessment and general health advice.

The Farm Families Health Checks Programme is funded through the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs’ (DAERA) Tackling Rural Poverty and Social Isolation (TRPSI) Programme and the Public Health Agency (PHA).

Alongside this, the team is collaborating with a range of other organisations and health professionals to encourage health promotion and awareness raising.

Christina Faulkner, Farm Families Health Checks Co-ordinator, said: “Balmoral Show offers us a great platform to meet directly with our farming and rural communities. We are looking forward to a busy event so why don’t you give us a visit at stand C9 to find out more about the services we offer.”

Visitors to the stand will be able to hear from Macmillan’s Skin Cancer Nurse Specialists about the importance of being ‘sunsafe’ while dietitians from the Public Health Dietitians Group (PHDG) will be on hand to advise on eating well for health.

There’ll also be a focus on looking after your hearing with representatives from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) taking part to discuss hearing loss and tinnitus, hearing checks, hearing aids and how to access support and services in your area.

Yvonne Carson, the newly appointed Rural Health and Wellbeing Manager for the Northern Health and Social Care Trust, said: “This is a great way for us to engage with our farming and rural population, and I’m looking forward to finding out about the key issues for them. There will be a chance to win a prize in our free competition – so make sure you get an entry in by stopping for a chat.”

Farm Families Health Checks is one of the partners in the NI Agri Rural Health Forum, and this year it is committed to working with the wider industry to encourage farmers to have their blood pressure checked.

Dr Rebecca Orr, Chair of the NI Agri Rural Health Forum, added: “Awareness raising could save lives and we are delighted to have Public Health Agency and Royal Ulster Agricultural Society support to hold an industry event at the prestigious Balmoral Show. Along with farmers, we will launch our inaugural call to action around blood pressure checks which the Farm Family Health Checks team will play a key role in delivering throughout the year.”