RPS: Use sugar app to engage patients about diet
Public Health England's Sugar Smart app helps patients "better understand their food choices", says the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
EXCLUSIVE
Pharmacists can use a new Public Health England (PHE) app to talk to patients about losing weight, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has said.
The Sugar Smart app, released on Monday (January 4), allows iOS and Android phones to scan barcodes on food and drinks packaging to reveal the equivalent number of sugar cubes they contain (see video below).
Pharmacists could use the app to help patients “better understand their food choices”, RPS spokesperson Neal Patel told C+D.
“Sugar is often added to foods where you wouldn’t expect it to be,” Mr Patel said. “I welcome any resource that provides people with information to make healthier choices.”
Watch the video below to see the app in action on a supermarket-bought cake:
— Annabelle Collins (@CandDAnnabelle) January 6, 2016
The app has received positive responses from pharmacists. Devon local pharmaceutical committee (LPC) tweeted that it is a "fun way of opening up a discussion about healthy eating".
Nottingham LPC chief officer Nick Hunter said the app is a “useful addition” to pharmacists' arsenals. “It is definitely a way forward and we have to find different ways of engaging people,” he said on Twitter.
But the app has received mixed reviews from other users. iOS and Android users have rated it 2.5 stars and 2 stars on their respective app stores, with many complaining that it does not recognise some products.
PHE survey
PHE also launched a new survey this week that allows pharmacists, commissioners and LPC officers to share their views on the challenges pharmacy faces to deliver public health services.
Anonymous responses to the survey – jointly produced with the Royal Society for Public Health – will inform a report on barriers to commissioning to be published in the spring. The deadline to complete the survey is January 26.
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