Angela Williams, Public Health Lead, East Riding of Yorkshire Council
Contact: [email protected]
People who are categorised outside of the healthy weight norms often face challenges in accessing health and care services, they often encounter stigma, discrimination and blame. Leading them to feel shame, worsening of health conditions and often misdiagnosis.
Physical activity, addiction, diet, and the environment we live in are all known to impact on people’s health outcomes regardless of their weight, and a greater number of healthy habits has been found to reduce all-cause mortality hazard ratio across all BMI bands.
The system needs to shift away from weight focused outcomes, towards promoting healthier behaviours and improved wellbeing through compassionate, person-centred approaches.
This programme aims to embed a more holistic approach to healthy weight and comprises of two elements:
- Reviewing the current provision of weight management services available in East Riding to identify gaps and strengthen pathways.
- Implementing a compassionate approach to weight across the system, by removing the focus on weight loss, changing the narrative by framing conversations around healthy behaviours, and creating healthy environments for people to live in.
Key Activities:
- Establishing a East Riding Healthy Weight Network and a ‘More than Weight’ steering group to lead the whole-system compassionate approach to weight.
- Including people with lived experience from the community (events, leisure centres, community conversations) to be part of a strategic plan and the model pathway of support.
- Aligning the ambition of ERYC and NHS to reform the model of care and improve health outcomes for the East Riding by jointly commissioning services.
- Delivering the train the trainer sessions on compassionate approaches.
- Influencing policy change to focus on healthy environments.
- Innovation UK accelerator funded project focusing on integrating clinical pathways into community settings.