Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh) has worked with the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities to develop a new elearning programme for health and care professionals to help people living with overweight or obesity.
Healthy Weight Coach has been developed for colleagues working within primary care networks, healthcare practices and pharmacies across England who already engage and interact with people as part of their role and are interested in supporting people who want to prioritise their weight, health and wellbeing.
The resource will help individuals to engage and support people living with overweight or obesity to make positive changes to their health and weight-related behaviours.
The programme comprises the following 8 sessions, which each take between 20 to 30 minutes to complete:
- The role of a healthy weight coach
- The complexity of weight gain, obesity and weight management
- Measuring and assessing a person’s weight
- The outcomes associated with overweight, obesity and weight management
- Healthy eating, drinking and physical activity
- Avoiding weight stigma and challenging biases
- Supporting behaviour change
- How to communicate effectively
The healthy weight coach is a new, voluntary role and all 8 sessions must be completed in order to become a healthy weight coach.
On completion of the elearning programme, learners will have the skills and confidence to have meaningful conversations to support people to move towards a healthier weight and will be well-placed to signpost or, where appropriate, refer people to weight management services.
For more information and to access the resource, please visit the Healthy Weight Coach programme page.