Blog

Here at C3 Collaborating for Health, we try to look at issues that impact nursing, but which generally don’t generate enough mainstream commentary, despite being serious concerns for nurses and the health community. We started with obesity in the profession and explored how the environment nurses work in and the pressures they work under, mitigate against them being empowered to maintain good and healthy nutritional diets and hydration in their workplaces. The mental health of the nursing workforce is a similar issue. From an individual and personal perspective, it raises substantial concerns about the wellbeing of a significant cohort of... Read More

Tuesday 4 February 2020 is World Cancer Day, a day dedicated to raising international awareness for cancer prevention, detection and treatment in order to inspire action for a cancer-free future.  Here at C3, we want to stress the importance of prevention when it comes to individual cancer risk.  People tend to assume cancer is mainly passed down through families, but genetic factors only play a major role in 5% – 10% of all cancer types.  In fact, most cancers are caused by DNA mutations that occur during a person’s lifetime due to environmental factors [1]. Several of these risk factors... Read More

If you look around at work, at the gym, or on the streets, you are likely to see most people wearing Apple watches, Fitbits, or other technology on their wrists. ‘Wearable tech’ is the new fad that old and young alike are being drawn towards. It helps us track our exercise, our calories burned, and most prominently, our steps taken. Many gadgets automatically set a goal of 10,000 steps, and even if you don’t partake in wearable tech, you probably have it ingrained in your mind that you should reach 10,000 steps every day. With 10,000 as the goal for... Read More

Each new year the Internet explodes with overwhelming advice about becoming better, healthier versions of ourselves. Here are C3's 5 simple tips for a healthy new year.

A growing number of employers are recognising the benefit of raising alcohol awareness in the workplace – not because they suspect employees are drinking on the job, but because they believe it is just as valuable to promote a healthier relationship with alcohol as it is to promote a healthy diet and exercise. Not convinced? Here are 10 reasons why every employer should be promoting Alcohol Awareness.

We're C3lebrating 10 years! See highlights of our accomplishments over the last 10 years and find out ways to become a part of C3's history.

It is a common trope in global health that young people should be involved in discussions, research and policy development – but often youth representation is a tokenistic afterthought, with middle-aged ‘experts’ dominating the conversation. How can we better engage young people?

Sometimes people say they don’t understand why we do certain things but we are true to our core mission to create changes that make it easier for people to stop smoking, improve what they eat and drink and do more physical activity.

Why should we, as public health and healthcare advocates, care about a climate initiative?

“Frustrated” was the word used several times to describe the mood of people interested in combatting NCD (non-communicable disease) at a meeting at Chatham House last week.

Google ‘Health and Wellbeing providers in the UK' and you will find over 40 million to choose from. Is it time for a system of accreditation for this burgeoning industry? Find out more in this article written by C3’s workplace health associate Jane Abraham and published on the People Management website. 

5,300 nurses from 140 countries met at the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Congress in Singapore. C3 enjoyed a high profile at the event, with C3 director Christine Hancock (former ICN president) giving a keynote and meeting with the WHO Director General.

C3's new film about nurses' health elicited very positive to very uncomfortable feedback. C3's director Christine Hancock explains how the film came to be and why addressing nurses' health is an uncomfortable but necessary topic.

As the debate continues about renaming non-communicable diseases (NCDs), C3's director asks: are three-letter acronyms (TLAs) harming health?

C3's long-standing supporter and Empactis Director Employee Health, Dr Steve Boorman, shares his thoughts after attending the launch of our film about supporting nurses' health in collaboration with Human Story Theatre and Nice Tree Films.

Florence Nightingale, the founder of professional nursing, was about heath and prevention as much as treating sickness, and the world needs her here now to preach her message.

Missed the London debut of The Wellbeing Symposium? Read about lessons learned and where to access speakers' presentations.

Viewers have shared Tasty videos, BuzzFeed's "hands and pans" approach to cooking demonstrations, on social media over 800 million times. How are these videos affecting food choices and nutrition awareness?

Do we really have to suffer through exercise or can it be fun? C3's director responds to Barbara Ellen's opinion piece 'Let’s stop pretending exercise is fun. Like work, you’ve just got to do it.'

This was a really unusual and enjoyable week which started in the smart offices of a multinational finance company where I was supporting a successful small business which shares our passion for health and wellbeing.

In support of No Smoking Day on Wednesday 13th March 2019, C3's intern summarises what progress the UK has made so far in the field of smoking cessation.

This International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating three of the amazing women key to C3’s success.

How to reduce sugar consumption? Produce less! The UK needs less and dearer sugar. Here are 5 ways the UK can do this, from C3 network member Professor Jack Winkler's new publication.

No sign of Spring yet in London but this week has been full of optimism with wonderful people offering us their time and support as well as amazing belief that we should think really BIG!

What makes C3's community-engagement programme unique? An innovative, evidence-based approach that shifts decision-making to local communities by engaging them as ‘citizen scientists’ in an investigation about their health and the built environment.

C3's director Christine Hancock details the interesting organisations she's met this week in her inaugural "Director's Diary" post.

C3's intern reflects on her habits and explores if there is a link between frequent caffeine consumption and the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

A new report tells us that Britain’s High Streets are getting unhealthier. The Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) studied 70 major UK towns and cities, and measured the healthiness of different types of shops and businesses on the high street.

How can we get to actionable, sustainable, and cost-effective ways of preventing NCDs? Why complex is not the same as complicated, and the different thinking we need to address complex challenges and systems thinking in relation to non-communicable disease.

As a twenty-year-old in an age group at risk of developing these habits, I can confidently attest that factors such as the flavoured e-liquid, an emphasis on vaping being ‘healthier’ than smoking and the misconception that vaping is not addictive really has an effect on young people.

Every year on 29 September the World Heart Federation raises awareness of cardiovascular disease through World Heart Day. This year they are asking everyone to make a promise (or more!) of how they will take simple steps to live healthier lives. Here are C3's six promises. 

Why is the upcoming third UN High-level Meeting on Non-communicable diseases important? C3's intern reviews what the meeting will cover and shares six organisations you can follow who are working in NCD prevention.

Our thanks to the over 120 generous donors who supported C3's Trustee, Caroline Stanger, and her walking partner Dr Lizzie Tuckey as they took on the Marathon Walk London!

C3's Trustee, Caroline Stanger, is raising money for C3 by walking the London Marathon Walk on Saturday 22 September 2018. Any amount you can contribute is greatly appreciated. The money raised will help C3 continue to combat chronic disease through our programmes, events and global knowledge sharing.

As Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) campaigners gear up for the 3rd UN High Level Meeting on NCDs later this month, C3's partners Primary Care International have been challenging everyone to make sense of the rhetoric around ‘multi-stakeholder collaboration’ and ‘multi-sector working’.

Download C3's latest report: CHESS™ on the Collingwood Estate, a C3 community investigation commissioned by Tower Hamlets Council as part of their flagship Communities Driving Change programme.

Now the NHS has turned 70, and with the Government preparing a long-term plan for the service in England, a broad range of leaders in charities and voice organisations have come together to offer our views on what should happen next to improve health and care – within the NHS and beyond. 

From 2015 to 2017, the Healthy Weight Initiative for Nurses (WIN.) engaged with over 400 nurses in England to design initiatives to help nurses to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Selena is a burns and plastic reconstruction specialist nurse, and was one of WIN.’s most active participants. Here is her story.

Download our latest annual review to read more about our successes, future plans, and ways you can get involved in making the healthy way the only way to live.

Watch our latest video for 5 facts about our International Breakfast Seminars, our popular seminar series showcasing best-practice examples of chronic disease prevention from around the world.

Has the Soft Drinks Industry Levy been successful? C3 network members J T Winkler and Tam Fry write about a 'radical change' in a popular, mass-market product. Have we successfully given people economic incentives, and not just moral injunctions?

In 2017, C3 Collaborating for Health was commissioned by the Health Foundation to hold a series of workshops that brought together UK third-sector community-based services that support young people aged 14 to 24.

Progress has stalled over the past few years, but with better messaging, a simplified programme, and increased accountability then 2018 could be the year of NCD. Insights from C3's breakfast seminar with Robert Beaglehole, chair of the Lancet NCD Action Group.

Have you heard about the One Health and Planetary Health initiatives? This blog explores the link between these multi-disciplinary approaches and C3's work addressing non-communicable diseases.

Urbanisation, said Jo Ivey Boufford, president of the International Society for Urban Health, is one of the four great challenges to health along with climate change, aging of the population, and the epidemiological shift from infectious disease to non-communicable disease. But, thinking about urban health challenges some deep-seated attitudes...

This video is of C3's director presenting about our community engagement programme at Healthy City Design (HCD) International 2017. We also share details about HCD's call for papers for 2018! Abstracts due 3 May.

Is your city one of the most liveable cities in the world? C3's intern looks at the results from the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) 2017 ratings of 140 cities.

Is it time to rethink office cake? Guest author and researcher Lou Walker shares the results of her project investigating the overlooked office cake culture.

Around the world, the month of February is designated for heart health. What can we as individuals, organisations and communities do to foster a heart-healthy lifestyle?

London-based charity C3 Collaborating for Health has collaborated with global health and employment services provider MAXIMUS to launch a weight management app designed by nurses, for nurses.

What if pharmacists could break the cycle of simply prescribing pills for long-term conditions, and replaced them with a prescription for an improved diet or increased physical activity?

How did Dry January start and is it effective in changing behaviours around drinking?

Locally-sourced food is said to be fresher, more nutritious, be grown or raised more sustainably, contain fewer chemicals...and is often more expensive. Can we make local food systems more inclusive?

'There is an anxiety that investment in prevention might keep people alive to die of something else possibly more expensive.' Richard Smith shares highlights from C3's International Breakfast Seminar with Nick Banatvala, senior adviser to the UN Interagency Task Force on the Prevention and Control of NCD.

PepsiCo's Healthy Living Programme focuses on four key areas of activity: smoking cessation, diet & hydration, physical activity and mental wellbeing. Read about the programme's impact and challenges.

This case study documents how BT has worked to shift employees’ mind-sets around mental health and wellbeing to ‘interdependency’, with employees looking after each other.

When people struggle to put food on the table, nutrition often becomes a secondary concern. With food bank use in the US & UK on the rise, how does this impact nutrition?

Can an employee engagement programme improve team work, partnership, and customer service of 25,000 employees in the Birmingham City Council?

National Grid saved £8.9 million in 2008–2011 due to reduced sickness absence. Our case study explains how they achieved these significant workplace health results.

What happens when three large companies – Mars, Novo Nordisk and Unilever – extend their workplace-health programmes to employees of local small- and medium-sized (SMEs) businesses? Read more in our case study about the Health and Wellbeing Local Business Partnership (HWLBP).

Thanks to '5 ways to a healthier YOU', the Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) has increased its overall score for improving staff health and wellbeing from 54.7 to 92.5 based on an audit by the Royal College of Physicians. Read our case study to see how GSTT achieved these impressive results.

The number of employees who smoke dropped from 20% to 6% following implementation of an employee smoking cessation programme at Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust. Our case study details how they achieved this significant result.

Neyber's Head of Employee Wellbeing explores a 'national scandal': the poor financial wellbeing of UK employees.

C3's nursing associate, Pat Hughes, writes about her experience accepting the prestigious Archon Award on behalf of C3 at the 'Oscars of Nursing'.

Diabetes is a global emergency. Here are three lessons we need to know if we're going to curb this epidemic, from the Cities Changing Diabetes Summit.

Sigma Theta Tau International recognised C3 on 30 October 2017 with its internationally renowned award for exceptional leadership in advancing health in the world. Through this award, C3 joins the ranks of previous award recipients His Highness the Aga Khan, Save the Children, Dame Cicely Saunders and Dr Jonas Salk.

'Creating an inclusive culture is at the heart of everything we at Forster Communications do.' Read workplace health tips from 'Britain's Healthiest Workplace' in this latest case study in our series about workplace health and wellbeing.

Hypertension is the world’s leading cause of premature death, ahead even of tobacco and obesity, and most of those deaths occur in poor countries. Yet the health system in most of those countries is unable to help people with hypertension.

Data showed that musculoskeletal disorders were a key cause of staff absence – so Britvic decided to implement a service to prevent, address and treat employees’ musculoskeletal problems.

Friday 29 September 2017 is #WorldHeartDay. Learn more about the world's biggest killer, and then register for C3's upcoming seminar about cardiovascular disease interventions.

For our workplace health series, we interviewed Nestlé UK&I to learn more about their programme for their 8,000 UK employees, which is independently evaluated by the Royal Society of Public Health.

The first in a series of case studies showcasing a range of workplace health initiatives, this post details Serco's Health & Wellbeing Champions Programme.

C3's intern explores the relationship between social media and health, and the differences in its impact on girls and boys in our latest blog post.

We often don’t think to explore what is right on our doorstep. The C3 team was delighted to show employees at neighbouring Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity the CHESS™ tool at their away-day in July, exploring an area of Southwark in south London, the borough that C3 calls home.

We need to get serious about tackling the health and wellbeing challenges of the largest and fastest growing segment of the working population today: the 40 to 65 year olds.

In the summer of 2017 C3 turned eight years old. Its series of international breakfast seminars has been going for almost as long, and June saw C3 celebrating its 50th seminar.

C3’s Ina Andersson spent a month volunteering in the Alexandreia refugee camp in northern Greece, where residents are experiencing a number of health problems. Managing chronic disease is only one of them.

We asked our Twitter followers if they agreed with a Lancet article calling for a renaming of non-communicable diseases. It received such interesting responses that we invited our network member, Dr Charlotte Augst, for her view. Should NCDs be reframed?

Self-care and prevention were high on the agenda when thousands of nurses, nursing students and healthcare assistants gathered in Liverpool in mid-May for four days of discussion at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) 50th Congress.

24 May marks the start of the Virgin Pulse Global Challenge, a 100 day journey to 'get the world moving'. Virgin Pulse's Andrea Maltman answers the question of whether a health intervention should fit routines or disrupt them using evidence from the GC. And, don't forget to wish C3 luck as we compete in the Global Challenge again this year!

12 May 2017: We at C3 congratulate the over 19 million nurses across the globe for the great work they do, and the opportunity they have to change the health of the world's population by incorporating prevention into their day-to-day nursing practice. Thank you!

When the UK’s Chief Medical Officer said ‘if it was a pill, physical activity would be the miracle drug’, she wasn’t exaggerating. Some of the benefits of being active – for just half an hour or so a day – include:

WIN. aims to explore whether nurses can be helped to maintain a healthy weight. Healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, are often hailed as ideally placed to tackle the global pandemic of obesity through frontline contact with patients.

Interested in making your venue healthy? There are various little tips and tricks to do so!

Chronic, non-communicable diseases pose a huge challenge for England’s National Health Service. But the NHS itself is overwhelmingly concerned with sickness rather than health. Instead, the levers of change in our everyday lives – the environment, organisations and individuals that shape our decisions on health – lie largely outside the medical world.

In an ideal world, the easiest choice would be the healthiest choice but, over recent decades, physical activity rates have been declining due to modern forms of transport and changing habits. Walking is the most convenient, free and most broadly accessible forms of physical activity for people of all ages, but still many of us aren’t aware of the benefits regular walking holds.

Are NCD’s receiving the attention they deserve, or are other political issues that might appear to be more urgent obscuring their importance?