Increasing the practice of health promotion initiatives by licensed premises

Licensees of all licensed premises in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia were offered free services to encourage adoption of health promo tion initiatives relating to responsible service of alcohol, environmental tobacco smoke, healthy food choices, breast and cervical cancer prevention, and the prevention of HIV/AIDS. A total of 239 premises participated in th e follow-up survey. Increases in prevalence ranged between 11% and 59% for alcohol-related initiatives. The prevalence of smoke-free areas and healthy food choices increased from 32% to 65% and 42% to 96%, respectively, and t he provision of cancer prevention information increased from 3% to 59%. Lic ensed premises represent a particularly challenging sector for health promo tion practitioners to work in. The results of this study suggest that the a doption of health promotion initiatives by licensed premises can be increas ed. A considerable opportunity therefore exists for health promotion practi tioners to become more actively involved in facilitating the adoption of su ch initiatives in this setting.