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RFID Helps Promote Healthy Pregnancies
Thus far, Bulloch says, 1.4 million of the contactless NEC cards have been issued since March 2006. About 2,500 buses are equipped with NFC readers, from a total of 7,000 buses nationwide.
In April 2007, the Dundee City Council and the Dundee Local Authority, together with the Tayside Health Board, launched a pilot known as "Give it Up for Baby," which is still ongoing. The pilot's participants are pregnant smokers who agree to attempt to stop smoking as part of a program known as the Dundee Healthy Living Initiative. Thirty-six pharmacies throughout Dundee, as well as two ASDA stores and Community Midwives—a local nonprofit agency focused on increasing the number of healthy pregnancies—participated in the program.
To date, 100 women have joined the program, each of whom has been provided with an NEC card (if they didn't already have one). When a participant visits one of the pharmacies, she blows into a device that measures carbon monoxide levels to determine whether she has been smoking. If found to be smoke-free, she presents her card and the pharmacy directs that data to the Dundee Local Authority, which then credits her card with money she can then use to purchase food at ASDA stores.
After more than a year of piloting the system, Bulloch says it has successfully aided pregnant women in kicking the smoking habit. "It's the mix of monitoring and cash incentive that seems to work," he explains. "Anecdotal evidence from quitters is that the leverage of the reward allows them to step out of the socially acceptable norm of smoking because they are getting paid to quit."
As a result of the program's success, Bulloch note, the council hopes it or other agencies will be able to roll out additional monitoring plus incentive programs for all smokers residing in low-income sections of Dundee. "We believe such a scheme can be sustained over the longer term," he says, "with private sector contributions into the system."
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In April 2007, the Dundee City Council and the Dundee Local Authority, together with the Tayside Health Board, launched a pilot known as "Give it Up for Baby," which is still ongoing. The pilot's participants are pregnant smokers who agree to attempt to stop smoking as part of a program known as the Dundee Healthy Living Initiative. Thirty-six pharmacies throughout Dundee, as well as two ASDA stores and Community Midwives—a local nonprofit agency focused on increasing the number of healthy pregnancies—participated in the program.
To date, 100 women have joined the program, each of whom has been provided with an NEC card (if they didn't already have one). When a participant visits one of the pharmacies, she blows into a device that measures carbon monoxide levels to determine whether she has been smoking. If found to be smoke-free, she presents her card and the pharmacy directs that data to the Dundee Local Authority, which then credits her card with money she can then use to purchase food at ASDA stores.
After more than a year of piloting the system, Bulloch says it has successfully aided pregnant women in kicking the smoking habit. "It's the mix of monitoring and cash incentive that seems to work," he explains. "Anecdotal evidence from quitters is that the leverage of the reward allows them to step out of the socially acceptable norm of smoking because they are getting paid to quit."
As a result of the program's success, Bulloch note, the council hopes it or other agencies will be able to roll out additional monitoring plus incentive programs for all smokers residing in low-income sections of Dundee. "We believe such a scheme can be sustained over the longer term," he says, "with private sector contributions into the system."
