~ Reducing Stress Related Illnesses ~

_Concept

_Aims

To inform and encourage the user that personal downtime and regular breaks at work is a neccesity for a balanced lifestyle and mental mindset.

- To encourage the audience to take breaks and have downtime.- To prove that taking time out is beneficial to them.- To appeal to the audience by thorough research into how they are engaged and the consumables that they aquire.

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_Idea

I am going to produce a range of products and promotional material that encourages the user to take more regular breaks throughout the day to give them a break from their work and everyday life. Taking a break doesn’t have to be a long amount of time, as the working professionals don’t have much time, I am working on a 3 minute break. The idea behind this is to reduce stress which is common within working professionals

The products will inform the user of the effects of stress and ways in which they can reduce it. As everybody is different and likes different things, I will tailor certain products to different types of people.

These products and promotion would be run as a campaign which I will propose to be done in partnership with the NHS. This means that it would be free to the audience, but also available to anyone else too. The campaign packs would be sent to businesses and dispersed through the managers.

_Target Audience

Working city professionals and commuters that have a busy schedule and are always on the go.

They tend to be ‘on the go’ eaters and drinkers and have no time to stop and think.

Often seen as a office worker with a high - level stress job.

They could have a family, but always end up taking their work home and have little time to themselves.

Age range of between mid 20’s - 35.

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_Stress

Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure.Pressure turns into stress when you feel unable to cope. People have different ways of reacting to stress, so a situation that feels stressful to one person may be motivating to someone else.

Many of life’s demands can cause stress, particularly work, relationships and money problems. And, when you feel stressed, it can get in the way of sorting out these demands, or can even affect everything you do.Stress can affect how you feel, think, behave and how your body works. In fact, common signs of stress include sleeping problems, sweating, loss of appetite and difficulty concentrating.

You may feel anxious, irritable or low in self esteem, and you may have racing thoughts, worry constantly or go over things in your head. You may notice that you lose your temper more easily, drink more or act unreasonably.

You may also experience headaches, muscle tension or pain, or dizziness.Stress causes a surge of hormones in your body. These stress hormones are released to enable you to deal with pressures or threats – the so-called “fight or flight” response.

Once the pressure or threat has passed, your stress hormone levels will usually return to normal. However, if you’re constantly under stress, these hormones will remain in your body, leading to the symptoms of stress.

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_Managing Stress

Stress is not an illness itself, but it can cause serious illness if it isn’t addressed. It’s important to recognise the symptoms of stress early. Recognising the signs and symptoms of stress will help you figure out ways of coping and save you from adopting unhealthy coping methods, such as drinking or smoking.Spotting the early signs of stress will also help prevent it getting worse and potentially causing serious complications, such as high blood pressure.There is little you can do to prevent stress, but there are many things you can do to manage stress more effectively, such as learning how to relax, taking regular exercise and adopting good time-management techniques.

There’s no quick-fix cure for stress, and no single method will work for everyone. However, there are simple things you can do to change the common life problems that can cause stress or make stress a problem. These include relaxation techniques, exercise and talking the issues through.

_Stress Facts

The industries that reported the highest rates of total cases of work-related stress (three-year average) were human health and social work, education and public administration and defence.

The occupations that reported the highest rates of total cases of work-related stress (three-year average) were health professionals (in particular nurses), teaching and educational professionals, and caring personal services (in particular welfare and housing associate professionals).

The main work activities attributed by respondents as causing their work-related stress, or making it worse, was work pressure, lack of managerial support and work-related violence and bullying.

Stress has been called “the silent killer” and can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure, chest pain, and an irregular heartbeat.

Laughter is a powerful stress reducer

Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, liver cirrhosis, and suicide.

Stress balls work by massaging acupuncture points in the hand

Men are more likely than women to develop certain stress-related disorders, including hypertension, aggressive behavior, and abuse of alcohol and drugs.

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_Stress Statistics

With an average of 40 days’ unpaid overtime a year, Britons work the longest hours in Europe. Long hours and a heavy workload can cause stress. In 2010/11 about 400,000 people in the UK reported work-related stress at a level they believed was making them ill.

There were 6,366 admissions for stress, a rise of 6.8% on the previous 12-month period.

Admissions were highest among those between the ages of 18 and 60.

Slightly more men were admitted than women, with 54% of admissions due to stress being male.

The increase in admissions for stress was higher than hospital admissions overall. These increased by about 2% in the same period.

45% of workers report that job insecurity has a significant impact on stress levels.

61% of workers list heavy workloads as a significant impact on stress levels.

25% of workers have taken a mental health day to cope with stress.

54% of workers are concerned about health problems due to stress.

_Health Campaigns

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_Design Direction

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_Design Direction

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_Products

NewspaperI will produce a newspaper which will contain information, stats and facts about stress and how it can affect you. This will be displayed mainly in typography and have an infographic element to it too. This is to appeal to the target audience as they are seen to read newspapers whilst on the move or in coffee shops.

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PublicationThe publication will inform the users of ways in which they can combat stress at work and how to manage a good working day. This will include content along the lines of: exercises / relaxation tips / entertainment / ways to take your mind off work / general tips.

WebsiteThe website is an extention of the information pack / campaign. This advertise the campaign and inform why it is necessary, along with displaying the facts and stats and the ways in which you can overcome stress at work.

_Products

PosterThe poster will be one design which could be adapted to different sizes for the use in different context - billboard, office, street - large scale, A3/A2, A6. The posters will be primarily to adverise the campaign and get it out there and known, this will then direct people to the website for more information and to places where they can pick up the information packs.

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PackagingFor the packaging of the products, I wanted to do something different and not the normal type of packaging. I came across the packaging shown in the image, which is like a plastic/polythene bag which is stitched across the top, with it being translucent it interacts with the content inside of it and i think this could work really well with my products. Being able to print onto it too, would be another element i could add to it. This could include the facts about stress across the front with the name and logo of the campaign. I think it needs to be something more creative and innovative, so that the audience is drawn into it and interacts with the products.

_Product Placement

The main product placement for the information packs and products will be in the office.I plan to run the campaign in partnership with NHS which will distribute the packs to offices within the cities. These will then be given out to the workers within the office and be encouraged to read and take notice of the information within in. The businesses will be erged to take part in the campaign and try to reduce the amount of stress related illness/days off in the workplace.

The promotional material could also be present within the office, this will promote the idea and campaign and hopefully get more people on board.

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From looking on the NHS website, stress and simi-lar related illnesses is quite a big issue within the hospitals and doctors. It is present the most in high level stress related jobs.It makes sense to run the campaign with the NHS, as this should hopefully get the campaign more recognised and get more people involved.

With NHS being involved, the second product placement would be within hospitals, doctors, health clinics and pharmacists. This product would be perfect to hand out to any patient that suffers from stress and be a good handout product within appointments.

_Promotion Placement

Coffee ShopsPromotion of the campaign and products will be put in coffee shops, as this is one of this big consumables that the target audience buy, it is an appropriate placement.The newspapers could also be placed within the coffee shops as general reads.

Coffee CupsPromotion and product placement could be on the actual coffee cups. With the sleeve cover being removable, I could design some of the content to be placed on these and then distribute them to the coffee shops

Tube StationsAs commuters are a big part of my target audience, especially in built up cities the tube station would be a perfect place to put the promotional material. This will catch the commuters attention and hopefully generate some interest.

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BillboardsThe promotion for the campaign can be placed on billboards, these are often present in cities and along motorways. Again this is present in the right places for my target audience, so it should reach them.

TransportationTransportation is a big area for promotion around a city, buses and other transport means are always present throughout the day. As the target audience is city workers, transportation within the city would be a good place for promotion of the campaign to be placed.

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_Logo

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_Branding

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Nathan Bolton