HEE have a campaign called Making Every Contact Count (MECC) which aims to utilise the many day to day interactions NHS organisations and staff have with patients to help make a positive change to their current and future health. HEE estimates “there are 1.2 million health-related visits to community pharmacies daily”. This means that pharmacy is ideally placed to promote positive health messages and encourage behaviour change.

The MECC campaign aims to address the following lifestyle issues which can have the greatest impact on health improvement:

• Adopting and maintaining a healthy weight
• Stop smoking
• Limiting alcohol consumption to the national guidelines.
• Eating a healthy and balanced diet.
• Being physically active.
• Improving mental health and wellbeing.

Whilst MECC is a campaign aimed at NHS organisations, including pharmacies in England, the principle is equally applicable to all pharmacies across the UK. It is a simple concept which can be adopted by pharmacy staff making it part of their daily conversations with patients.

What is Making Every Contact Count?

The concept of MECC encourages pharmacy staff to feel confident and competent to initiate a brief conversation with a patient about their health behaviours. These conversations should take place with every patient by all pharmacy staff. Each conversation should be brief, lasting between 30 seconds and 5 minutes.

These brief conversations are designed to encourage patients to think about changing their behaviours rather than help them make the change, although ideally it will lead to positive behaviour change. A MECC conversation should raise awareness about specific health behaviours, provide support and encouragement to change and signpost to services that can help the patient make the change.

The main principle of MECC is that the patient is the expert on themselves, they understand their needs, goals and what motivates them which means they should be at the centre of the conversation. The structure of the conversation should be:

• Ask,
• Advise,
• Assist to meet the patients’ needs and aspirations.

For example if a patient is a type 2 diabetic and overweight they may not understand that reducing their weight could help to improve their diabetic control.

The MECC concept doesn’t just have to be centred on changing health behaviours as the core skills are transferable. It is about starting the conversation and then supporting the patient with what they need. For example if you discover that an elderly patient is struggling to look after themselves you could signpost local social care services, or if someone has physical difficulties getting to the pharmacy you could offer to deliver their medication.