"Volunteering at Healthwatch Greenwich is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in our community while learning about public health": Volunteer Lauren
My name is Lauren Lencovich, and I am a current volunteer for Healthwatch Greenwich. I am a university student from the United States studying in the UK for the upcoming months. I am studying Population Health and am interested in how health information is portrayed in the media, and how social media can influence a population’s health behaviour.
As I am discovering the culture of the UK, I am learning more about my new community. Volunteering with Healthwatch Greenwich, an independent champion of health and care, gives me the opportunity to strengthen skills I can use in my future career while also gaining first-hand knowledge of healthcare systems and its governance in the UK.
I take pride in the opportunity to contribute to producing vital health information for communities in need of reliable access to health and social care.
As a Healthwatch Greenwich volunteer, I work with the communications department to produce and post informative health content. Social media is one of the main sources of information for most of the population in the UK. Therefore, inaccurate information can be extremely dangerous, particularly in matters related to health. I take pride in the opportunity to contribute to producing vital health information for communities in need of reliable access to health and social care. Through the use of social media and infographics, I aim to create simple yet effective content that offers valuable information to the public, without any hassle.
Another aspect of volunteering at Healthwatch Greenwich includes going into the community and conducting surveys to deeply understand the experiences of service users. Being part of conducting surveys and outreach activities allows for direct insight into the health systems in the area and the ability to listen to real stories from local people.
Volunteering at Healthwatch Greenwich is a wonderful opportunity to make a difference in our community while gaining a deeper understanding of public health within our borough. I highly value these new perspectives and skills I will gain from volunteering at Healthwatch Greenwich and plan to utilise them in my future work.
