What is MECC?

Making Every Contact Count (MECC) is the delivery of brief opportunistic information and advice to people you come into contact with as part of your normal day, who may want to make a change to a healthier lifestyle and would benefit from additional support to improve their health and wellbeing.

Why is MECC necessary?

Lifestyle factors, particularly smoking, are some of the biggest contributors to health inequalities in England and communities that experience a higher disadvantage, in terms of wealth, unemployment or education are more likely to engage in multiple unhealthy lifestyle behaviours, therefore suffering the most harm.

The good news is that the risk of developing certain conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, can be reduced if people adopt healthier lifestyles and behaviours. If we support people to lead healthier lives and make healthier choices, we can prevent them from dying prematurely, help them recover from episodes of ill health and enhance their quality of life.

Local and national policies

There are a number of strategies and policies that highlight the importance of prevention and public health in Herefordshire:

What are the eight key areas for MECC?

Drinking alcohol sensibly
Stopping smoking
Healthy eating
Physical activity
Mental health and wellbeing
Oral health
Sexual health
Vaccines

It's important to remember that to truly improve the lives of people in Herefordshire, we must consider that wellbeing is not just about health, it's about feeling good and functioning well. There are five key themes which are important to wellbeing:

Wellbeing factors graphic

Please note: The effective communication skills you use to deliver information on the eight lifestyle areas are transferable to other topics / areas.

Can MECC change behaviour?

MECC is a behaviour change intervention that aims to enable positive change through capability, opportunity and motivation. These three elements form the COM-B Model and are all necessary for change to happen.