At GLL, health is embedded in all that we do. We want everyone to lead healthy and active lives and we are committed to supporting those who may need a little help with that.
Healthwise
Our Healthwise programme covers a menu of established activity programmes including:
- Physical activity on referral
- Weight-management
- Cardiac rehabilitation (phase IV)
Our Healthwise programmes are delivered by a specialist team of instructors working across a number of our partnerships, providing a low-cost physical activity programme designed for individuals with existing health conditions, as well as those at risk of developing health conditions. The programme has evolved over the last 16 years, working with expert partners including: dieticians, psychologists and physiologists, to create a highly-successful programme of activity. This supports participants to become and remain physically active, as well as supporting their healthy lifestyle choices.
All programmes are compliant with NICE guidance and deliver behaviour change support, through a variety of supervised and independent activity pathways. The overall aim is improving an individual’s health and wellbeing.
Today our ‘Healthwise’ programmes operate within 26 Local Authority areas.
In the last year there were:
- Over 21,000 individuals referred
- Partnership work with Acute Services including:
- Dietetics department partners
- Cardiac rehabilitation teams
- Pulmonary rehabilitation teams
- Diabetes specialists
Our Programmes
Details of the programmes delivered within your nearest Better centre are listed on your local centre's pages.
Physical Activity on Referral
GLL’s firm belief that physical activity at appropriate levels can have a beneficial effect upon the health of an individual, underpins our commitment to the provision of the Physical Activity Referral Schemes (PARS) within our partnerships.
Health professionals can refer patients to a physical activity programme designed for those at risk of developing health conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and depression, and who would benefit from specialist support to become and remain more physically active.
The programme has been designed to help participants to increase their knowledge, skills and confidence in physical activity. This 12-week programme incorporates one-to-one assessments, behaviour change techniques and individual tailoring of activity plans – all offered at a low cost to participants.
Adult Weight Management
Adult weight management courses run for a 12-week period and include both educational and physical components to promote healthy eating and an active lifestyle.
Our Tier 2 Weight Management programme utilises behaviour change techniques to support adults lose weight and gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. Courses are aimed primarily at patients with a BMI>28, but are also available to those with a BMI>25 who have little knowledge of healthy eating and would benefit from guidance. In addition to those participants referred to PARS solely for weight loss/obesity, participants who have other medical conditions may also be signposted to the course as part of their health intervention.
Outcomes include reductions in weight, high completion-rates as well as improvements in healthy eating behaviour.
Cardiac Rehabilitation
The Phase IV Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme (12 week) is continued cardiac rehabilitation for those individuals who have successfully completed Phase III or for those who are referred for their heart conditions by their GP/health professional.
The programme provides individuals with access to appropriate group exercise classes and progression onto an individualised gym programme. The purpose of the course is to increase awareness of the benefits of physical activity and provide tools to change or maintain physical activity patterns. It also encourages other positive lifestyle-behaviours including healthy eating and stress management. The programme is delivered in accordance with BACPR Standards and Core Competencies.
XPLORE Family Weight Management
GLL has had extensive experience of delivering family weight management courses - XPLORE. Our eight-week course has been designed to provide families with a fun, informative and balanced approach to nutrition and physical activity.
XPLORE supports families to review physical activity levels, eating habits and prompt a reduction in sedentary time; and provides a support network for families around healthy lifestyle improvement.
Those who successfully complete a programme are encouraged to continue to eat healthily and be active through our XPLORE graduate programme which is suitable for all family members.
Other Specialist/Tier 3 programmes currently delivered by GLL in partnership include:
Cancer Rehabilitation & Pre-habilitation, Falls Prevention, COPD, Stroke Rehabilitation, Parkinson Referrals, Seated Exercise, Phase III Cardiac Rehabilitation, Heart Failure Classes, MS Referrals, Change 4 Life Clubs, Weight Stigma Training, Activate Healthy Schools, Community Activators, and Healthy Walks/jogging groups.
Within each partnership where our Healthwise teams operate, we implement our established governance structures and approaches to ensure a safe and effective service. These include:
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Tried and tested operating procedures |
Effective staffing structure |
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Incident reporting systems and reporting |
Effective Clinical governance procedures |
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Staff management protocols and experience |
Gold standard client management system and integrated clinical record |
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Award winning staff training and development programme |
Established benchmarking and monitoring approaches |
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Establish Quality improvement cycles |
Experience contract management |
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Information governance structures |
Outcomes:
Our Healthwise programmes have undergone extensive evaluation as part of our commitment to continually develop this service. These evaluations have shown:
- High completion rates.
- Positive physiological and psychological changes in body weight, mean arterial pressure and well-being for those who complete the scheme.
- Significant increase in levels of physical activity.
- Significant improvements in quality-of-life scores and physical activity levels, 6 months after completion of the scheme.
- Successful targeting of unemployed and retired patients.
- Positive feedback from patients including improvement to health and confidence and reducing social isolation
- Patients additionally report that they visit their GP surgery less often and have reduced their medications.