A Walsall arts and health project is a featured case study on the National Social Marketing Centre (NSMC) website.

In 2006, the National Consumer Council highlighted the need for a social marketing approach to improve the effectiveness of health promotion at national and local levels, encourage positive behavioural change.  The Government decided establish the NSMC. 

Taxi! was a one year pilot project developed by the Walsall Council Creative Development Team, using a social marketing approach, to encourage local taxi drivers to review their lifestyle and make positive changes. 

Primary research, including interviews and video diaries, with local taxi drivers generated insights into their day-to-day lives. Since the culture of taxi driving involves long, unsociable hours and many taxi drivers work more than one job to support their families, the project focused on encouraging drivers to make small lifestyle changes within their working lives, such as drinking more water and swapping junk food for healthy snacks.

A short film was produced showing what kind of positive changes taxi drivers can make and the benefits these changes can bring to their health and working lives. The project team also worked with local taxi companies to create structural changes and incentives that will encourage their drivers to be healthier, such as installing water dispensers at the drivers’ base and subsidising gym memberships. 

The plan is to expand the project and work with other groups of men working in other sectors.

Results overview:
• Fifteen taxi drivers were interviewed over the phone five weeks after viewing the film. Of these, eleven reported a significant change in their lifestyle, which focused on increased levels of physical exercise and positive changes in diet, as well as dedicating more time to family activity.
• Several local taxi companies regularly screen the film at their drivers’ base and the local Licensing Department shows the film as part of their induction programme for new drivers. Fourteen companies have expressed more information about the Healthy Workplace Scheme. Three companies have made significant changes to the driver’s base as a result of their involvement in the project.

You can read the full case study here.