Being diagnosed with a chronic health condition can be worrying and emotionally draining for patients.
They are likely to require long-term medicine or treatment and will probably have questions — as well as needing further resources or support.
Making small changes to their lifestyle, could bring significant positive benefits to patients’ health — as well helping them to manage their health condition.
Healthy lifestyle services can help
Research shows that people with long-term conditions who self-manage their health:
- Can cope better with their condition
- Have improved pain management
- Experience fewer flare ups
- Have more energy.
Be Well Walsall can help your patient find changes which work for them. Our team take the time to listen to your patient, to work out the best way to support them.
Lifestyle interventions can also help prevent chronic health conditions for certain patients.
Research from Diabetes.Org found that combined lifestyle interventions — including diet, physical activity and sustained weight loss — can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by approximately half.
Healthy weight
The health benefits of maintaining a healthy weight are well known. It can lower risk of some cancers (such as liver and kidney), heart disease and hypertension. And it can also help relieve chronic joint pain.
We know it can be a difficult conversation to get started, and our How to talk about lifestyle concerns article covers this subject.
But once someone decides they want to lose weight, research has shown that weight management support with a social element makes it easier to stick to the programme — compared to those without that social dimension.
Get more active
Physical activity can help to manage long-term health conditions, as well as helping to prevent them.
But if someone has recently been diagnosed with a chronic health condition, they may feel vulnerable and unsure how to get more active in a safe way.
There are many ways people with chronic health conditions can enjoy and benefit from physical activity. It’s all about finding an activity which works for them, and our team can help with that.
Smoking cessation
Smoking increases the risk of more than 50 serious health conditions, including several types of cancer. It also causes coronary heart disease, strokes and damage to blood vessels and arteries.
According to research from Gov UK, around 60% of smokers in England want to quit — with around half of those who try relying on willpower alone.
This is the least effective method. Our smoking cessation service can offer support which will drastically increase a person’s chances of quitting for good.
According to the same Gov UK research, combining stop-smoking aids with expert support from local services makes someone three times as likely to succeed in quitting.
If your patient has been diagnosed with a chronic health condition, or is concerned about developing one, our services can offer the support they need.
Our friendly team are here to talk through their concerns, to find out how we can help them best.
Please don’t hesitate to refer your patients.
