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Rural Health Trainers

Overall Aim: To offer one to one support and easy access to health information and health services to adults over the age of 18 years. To provide individually tailored support to those who want to improve their health, wellbeing and lifestyle in rural communities on the Island.

♦To deliver a free, friendly service providing up-to-date and unbiased information on health and health services to the rural communities in North and South West Wight.
♦ Trained to cover a wide range of health issues such as: physical activities and exercise, healthy eating, weight management, oral health, caring issues, sexual health, smoking cessation, mental health, alcohol use, substance misuse.
♦Deliver information sessions at local venues e.g. libraries, Community Advice Network events, local social events (Active Network meetings, Tea and Chat events), supermarkets to promote awareness of the Health Trainer Service and offer information on health and health services
♦ To offer one to one meetings with individuals, based on a system of self- referral. To help, encourage and support them to improve their health in positive and manageable ways. Health Trainers are skilled in listening techniques and are able to identify needs so realistic personal goals can be set, which are attainable and measurable. Support can be provided for six to eight sessions to help individuals achieve their goals.
♦To deliver a service that is impartial, and where privacy and complete confidentially is observed at all times
♦To assist in the development of the service, such as promotional work, developing documentation and tools for clients, reporting outcomes to colleagues.

Sam Brooks and Alice Cundall are based at the Rural Community Council and will be promoting and delivering the Health Trainer Service in the rural communities in the west of the Island. Sam will cover the southwest Wight, to include the villages of Chale, Calbourne, Brighstone, Wellow, Newbridge and the small communities in the area. Alice will cover the northwest Wight, to include the villages of Gurnard, Northwood, Porchfield, Shalfleet, Yarmouth and the small communities in the area.

The Rural Health Trainer Service will provide:

A friendly service, providing up-to-date and unbiased information on health and health services, which are available locally and Island wide. Covering a wide range of health issues such as: physical activity and exercise, caring issues, oral health, mental health, smoking cessation, alcohol use, substance misuse, sexual health, health eating /weight issues and many other aspects of health.

• A signposting service for people to obtain the health information or services they require.
• Encouragement and support to people who wish to be accompanied to the services they would like to attend. For instance, a smoking cessation group or to a fitness class or to a healthy walk
• Drop-in-centres in the Village Halls or Community Centres for example, so people can come and talk to us either on a one-to-one basis or as small groups.
• One to one meetings with individuals based on a system of self-referral to help them improve their health in positive and manageable ways. Listening and identifying needs so realistic personal goals can be set that are attainable and measurable. Support will be provided for up to six sessions to help individuals achieve these goals.
• A service that is impartial and where privacy and complete confidentiality will be observed at all times.

To find out more please contact:

Sam Brooks or Alice Cundall
Trainee Rural Health Trainers
Isle of Wight Rural Community Council

Let's Get Moving

Let's Get Moving is a behaviour change programme that incorporates a Physical Activity Care Pathway based on recommendations of the NICE Public Health Guidance 2 & 6. It is designed to assist practitioners in guiding inactive adults towards gradually becoming more active, for the prevention and management of chronic disease.

Let's Get Moving was set-up here on the Island in July 2010 to help local people get more physical activity and thereby improve their health and wellbeing. Within the scheme Stuart Symonds (active lifestyle referral coordinator) meets the client on a one-to-one basis to help with goal setting and motivation using the technique of Motivational Interviewing. Clients may wish to do more of something they already do and enjoy, such as walking, or may wish to return to an activity or even take up something completely new from boxing to belly dancing! Flexible follow-up arrangements help support the client during the potentially difficult first few weeks and beyond.

The first year of the project saw referrals coming exclusively from Primary Care; in fact exclusively from GP's surgeries. For the second year we are looking to include a wider range of sources for referrals. If you work with adults who you believe might benefit from our service, please contact us;

Stuart Symonds, Active Lifestyle Referral Co-ordinator, IWRCC, 07731613701 or stuart.symonds@iwrcc.org.uk ( a personal visit can be arranged if you would like to find out more.)
We can offer you a straightforward referral form or an easy-to-use scratch card which potential clients can use to assess their current level of physical activity. With our contact details and offer of help on the scratch card, potential clients can choose to make the call and get onto the scheme.

It is a fact that regular physical activity of moderate intensity can bring about major health benefits as well as significant cost savings for the NHS.

The benefits of regular physical activity are clearly articulated; for adults, achieving 30 minutes of at least moderate intensity physical activity on at least five days a week helps prevent and manage over 20 chronic conditions including coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, mental health problems and musculoskeletal conditions
NICE endorses brief interventions in physical activity as being both clinically and cost-effective for delivery by the NHS in primary care. (NICE 2006 PH2)
Motivational interviewing has been identified as an effective approach to facilitate health behaviour change (Scales & Miller, 2003).
It is likely that less than 2/3 of our practice population get close to being' healthily active', meaning higher incidence and worse outcomes in the disease areas listed above.