Do you want you and your family to eat a more healthy diet? lose weight? increase physcial activity? but don't know where to start? We have just the thing for you - Healthy Helpings

 

What is Healthy Helpings?

Healthy Helpings is an online, 12 week programme designed to help you change your eating habits and improve your activity.

The programme is for adults, however we know from experience that changing what you eat and becoming more active can also lead to improvements for your children and other family members.

Changing what we eat and being more active not only improves your health but also your overall well being. i.e. how you feel about yourself. It can give you more confidence and lift your mood which can have positive effects on the rest of your family.

 

Who can attend?

We are offering this programme to families with a child under 16. We are doing this as a small trial to see how useful it is, so your views and opinions about the programme are very important to us, and with your permission, we will ask you for feedback during and on completion of the programme.

 

What does the programme involve?

The programme itself consists of 12 online sessions which you can watch as many times as you wish. Each session consists of a short video clip from our local dietitians or psychologist providing you with information and advice on;

• Eating a balanced diet
• Making small changes
• Portion sizes
• Physical activity
• Food labelling
• Information on how our thoughts, feelings and moods can affect what we eat.

The sessions contain practical advice and tips on how to change some of these aspects, how to make positive improvements to your lifestyle and help you reach your goals.

 

What happens when I sign up to the programme?

You will be assigned a Health Care Support Worker from the Community Dietetic Department in Aberdeen (either Claire or Kathryn) who will guide you through the programme and help with any questions you might have. They will contact you every few weeks to ask how you are managing and chat about your goals and the changes you are trying to make.

They can also guide you to other services which might help, such as;

• Where to buy more affordable food
• Budgeting/ help with finances
• Help with local exercise and activity progammes
• Help with parenting skills
• Help to improve your cooking skills and knowledge
• Who to turn to if you are feeling anxious or just want someone to speak to (Grampian Listening Service)

 

What do I need to do the programme?

You will need an email address, access to a tablet, smart phone or computer and a wifi connection

If you do not have the above we can assist with this or can point you to places in your local areas where you can access the internet.

We also ask, if possible you monitor your weight. We can provide you with a set of scales to help you do this

We can also provide Fitbits for people who are keen to monitor their activity levels

If you aren’t confident in using any of the above our team will help you with this.

 

Can I compete the programme quicker than 12 weeks?

Yes. You can complete it quicker than 12 weeks but we do recommend you try to stick to the 12 weeks as this will give you plenty time to think about what you have learnt, make any changes you decide to make and be happy with these changes before you move onto the next stage.

We know that people who make the small changes over a longer period of time do better than those who try to do everything at once. This programme is aimed at changing your behaviour and habits as well as changing what you eat, and these changes can take a while.

 

What happens if I don’t finish the programme?

You can stop doing the programme at any point and this will not affect your care at any time. If you do find the programme isn’t for you or you decide not to finish it we’d really like to know why as this will help us look at how to improve it for others.

Either Claire or Kathryn will contact to ask for your thoughts but if you would rather do this anonymously then we can organise that as well.

Please remember, your thoughts, views and opinions are really important to us and they will remain anonymous.

 

What happens when the programme finishes?

For you

Hopefully by the end of the programme you will have achieved your goals and will have the knowledge and confidence to continue to make changes towards a healthier lifestyle for you and your family.

We do not have any formal follow up planned after the 12 weeks but we will be gathering information from you as to whether you feel this is needed and what kind of additional support is needed.

For us

We will collect the information from everyone who participates in the programme and will write a report on the results as well as the feedback we receive from you. There will be nothing in this report that will identify you or your family. We will share this report with our health colleagues and Community Planning Aberdeen partners and it will be available for you to read if you wish.

 

How can I sign up?

If you would like to sign up to the Health Helpings programme, please email gram.cityloipawm@nhs.scot or phone 01224 556556. 

 

Data Protection and Confidentiality

Any information you provide us with is confidential and will be stored securely as per our NHS Grampian protocol and procedures. We will not inform your GP or any other health or Social care professional about your results unless you ask us to.

For a fuller explanation on why we collect data, how we use it and store it please see the enclosed leaflet, Information Governance – Data Protection.

Published: 06/10/2023 16:09