The Toilet Times

‘The Toilet Times’ is a partnership campaign being developed by NHS BANES and Bath & North East Somerset Council.

The campaign will build on the positive work that is already being carried out within B&NES to reduce the harm from alcohol among young people. This new initiative, inspired from a talk by Dr Jim Turner from The Social Norms Institute at The AIM ‘Alcohol Education – What works for young people?’ Conference in October 2012, will support key harm minimisation messages. But the latest poster campaign will use a social norming approach to reinforce positive attitudes and behaviour around alcohol.

The design will be in the form of a newspaper and will include praising positive behaviours that students are displaying rather than focusing on the negative. This will aim to challenge perceptions that all young people are drinking excessively and behaving badly. The toilet door advertising frames will be provided free of charge to display the posters and will be displayed in all toilet blocks across the campus/school, and in the student’s halls.

Research has shown that advertising in toilets has been particularly effective in conveying key messages to the public, and in particular the social norms approach to health promotion has been well evaluated when conducted in other schools/universities. The campaign is part of a wider programme of alcohol awareness initiatives planned for the schools/universities/colleges within the B&NES area.