Excellence in Patient/Consumer Health Programmes

Summary of work

One in ten people over 65 in the UK is malnourished or at risk of malnutrition. Malnutrition in older people is associated with significant health and quality of life impacts as well as being a burden on our health and social care system.

M&F Health, working for the charity BAPEN, the Malnutrition Task Force and the Hertfordshire Independent Living Service, created the first ever UK Malnutrition Awareness Week in October 2018. The goals were to help people understand the risk, spot the warning signs, and to understand where to get help and information.

The campaign employed a variety of communications approaches to produce impressive outputs on a low budget. A library of information resources was created, and extraordinary media results and a lively social media campaign helped to alert the public. Local nutrition teams were invited to stage events in their own organisations, communicating directly with members of the public who may be at particular risk.

The success of the campaign was enhanced by a well-executed partnership strategy that meant that messages were amplified by third parties. The campaign had proven results with more people than expected downloading resources and visiting BAPEN’s self-screening tool, discovering their risk status and receiving advice.

Judges' comments

The UK Malnutrition Awareness Week campaign showed genuine outcomes with a strong impact and good tactical delivery based on strong insights. They managed to engage the NHS with a clear call to action.