WASHINGTON – The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) Educational Foundation and Family Dollar have launched a program to help the chain’s shoppers make informed, educated choices about choosing and using over-the-counter products and dietary supplements.

The program, “Health In Hand”, is the foundation’s first-ever collaboration of this scale to help build confidence and understanding during shoppers’ self-selection process, especially for those living in underserved or rural communities and community members who may have low health literacy.

Through educational QR codes placed on Family Dollar’s in-store O-T-C category way finding strips, in all 8,000 stores, shoppers will be directed to custom landing pages on HealthInHand.org, the foundation’s official online destination and go-to resource for consumers to learn more about self-care categories, active ingredients, and specific products. The information on Health In Hand is ingredient-based to help customers better understand what self-care products may be right for them.

Custom landing pages on HealthInHand.org

By scanning the QR code with their mobile phones, shoppers can access information at their fingertips and feel empowered to make safe, informed decisions about choosing and using self-care products. The first two Family Dollar categories to showcase the educational QR codes are digestive health and pain management, which were placed in stores the first week of August. Additional categories launching later in the year will include cough/cold/flu and allergy.

“No decisions are more personal than those we make about our health,” said foundation executive director Mary Leonard. “The Foundation has a unique opportunity to serve as an educational resource for Family Dollar’s customers to promote the safe use of self-care products and support better health outcomes. Knowing that QR Code technology is a preferred way for consumers to access information, we are solving a need to provide access to Health In Hand’s expert advice and dynamic content directly from Family Dollar’s O-T-C aisles. We are excited about this first execution and building future self-care educational initiatives.”

“We are pleased to be the first retailer to participate in the CHPA’s Health in Hand initiative,” said Family Dollar vice president of merchandising Kyle Price.  “This program enables us to deepen our connection with our shoppers as they make important and informed purchase decisions to take care of themselves and their loved ones. These new resources, combined with our refreshed product assortment and our everyday low prices, create an absolute win-win for our customers.”