Our Health and Wellbeing Coaching Team
At Bruton Surgery, we have four Health and Wellbeing Coaches to support our patients.
Beth, Alison and Lyndsey are Health and Wellbeing Coaches for patients aged 25 and over, and Pia is a Health Coach specifically for young people.
The role of the Health and Wellbeing Coach is to:
- Support people to improve their ability to self-manage, increase motivation levels and commitment to change their lifestyle
- Enable behavioural change and focus on improving health-related outcomes by working with people to set personalised goals and change their behaviours
- Work with people with physical and/or mental health conditions including ADHD/autism and those at risk of developing mental health difficulties.
Health and Wellbeing Coaching can be an effective intervention for people experiencing a range of long-term conditions, including respiratory, cardiovascular (including Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension), stress and low mood. Coaching can also support people with weight management, diet and increasing activity levels.
What is a Healthcoach?
A Healthcoach will help you gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to improve your health and wellbeing. Nobody knows you better than you know yourself, and we believe everyone is capable of making positive changes in their lives. Together we will:
-
- explore what is important for your life and wellbeing
- identify the local activities and services you can benefit from
- gain support and encouragement to start using services that can help you
A Healthcoach does not:
-
- tell you what to do or make decisions for you
- give a diagnosis for a medical concern
- prescribe you medication or give you medical advice
A Healthcoach does:
-
- listen to you
- try to understand the whole picture of your health and wellbeing
- allow you to lead your own lifestyle changes and make decisions
- work alongside you
- offer guidance and support to help you achieve your goals
If you would like to get in touch to book an appointment with a Health and Wellbeing Coach, please call Bruton Surgery on 01749 812310 (choose Option 3). If we are not available, leave a message and one of the team will get back to you. Alternatively please email us at somicb.healthcoaches.brutonsurgery@nhs.net.
We look forward to supporting you soon.
Starting on Tuesday 1st October and every fortnight for 6 weeks, our Health Coaching Team will be hosting a group session at Bruton Community Hall between 11am – 12noon. The sessions are aimed at patients who want to make a difference to their lifestyles to support or prevent a medical condition such as diabetes, heart disease, etc but any patient is welcome to attend. We will discuss how you can eat better, get more active, and manage your mental wellbeing, plus help you work through your goals and barriers.
To join, please contact our Health Coaching Team by calling 01749 812310 option 3, or by emailing somicb.healthcoaches.brutonsurgery@nhs.net.
We look forward to supporting you.”
If you’ve been struggling with pain for more than 12 weeks, there are many services that can help.
Your first stop should be a GP so you can discuss your pain in all its forms and explore options that work for you.
There are also online resources to help you with self-management.
Ten Footsteps to Living Well with Pain programme
This is a step-by-step online guide to living well despite your persistent pain. When people self-manage their pain, their quality of life improves. Eventually it stops dominating their day and they begin to get more out of life. Knowing how to self-manage your pain is not automatic – but it is something that you can learn. That’s where Ten Footsteps comes in. It’s designed to help you learn the skills you need to become an effective self-manager of your pain, and can be done on your own or with support from Bruton Surgery Health Coaches. To find out more about the Ten Footsteps approach to pain management go to:
https://livewellwithpain.co.uk/ten-footsteps-programme/
Pain cafe online (poster)
Support groups
There's lots of self-help advice available from a variety of organisations supporting people living with long-term pain, such as:
Action on Pain http://www.action-on-pain.co.uk/
British Pain Society https://www.britishpainsociety.org/
Pain Concern https://painconcern.org.uk/
Pain Support https://painsupport.co.uk/
Charities specialising in specific conditions, such as arthritis or fibromyalgia, may also offer more targeted pain management advice. Some of these organisations run helplines and self-help groups, where you can talk to and meet other people with long-term pain.
If you find you're having difficulty managing your pain, ask the GP for a referral to the Somerset Community Pain Management Service. Their aim is to support you and work with you to find ways to improve your quality of life and, in spite of your persistent pain, to live as independent a life as you would wish.
https://www.somersetpain.co.uk/
The Household Support Fund is designed to provide short-term urgent financial help to Somerset residents who are struggling to afford household essentials such as buying food, paying for energy and water bills and other essential household items such as beds and white goods.
More information on the fund, who it is for and how people can apply can be found here: Somerset Household Support Fund. A Leaflet is also available for more information.
Our Healthcoaches can refer you to the NHS Digital Weight Management Programme, which supports adults living with obesity who also have a diagnosis of diabetes, hypertension or both, to manage their weight and improve their health.
It is a 12-week online behavioural and lifestyle programme that people can access via a smartphone or computer with internet access.
For more information about the programme visit: https://www.england.nhs.uk/digital-weight-management/
The attached documents set out a number of links to websites and apps which you may find useful as a family or for teenagers and young adults:
CYP Wellbeing Links Resources - For Families
CYP Wellbeing Links Resources - For Teenagers Young Adults (002)
(This information is correct at time of publication, July 2022)
For details about how to improve your metabolic health in a 28 day plan, please visit: Metabolic Health 28 Day Plan
Do you know anyone who is starting their university this or next year? The Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) is there to support you whilst at university.
This can be on its own or in addition to any student finance you get.
The type of support and how much you get depends on your individual needs - not your household income.
- specific learning difficulty, for example dyslexia, autism or ADHD
- mental health condition, for example anxiety or depression
- physical disability, for example if you have to use crutches, a wheelchair or a special keyboard.
- sensory disability, for example if you’re visually impaired, deaf or have a hearing impairment.
- long-term health condition, for example cancer, chronic heart disease or HIV
- You might qualify for specialist mentoring or a study skills tutor which would help you organise your studies or help with your mental health condition or a study skills tutor who would help you with planning your studies or a specialist equipment.
Please contact Bruton Surgery on 01749 812310, option 3 and speak to Pia, one of the health coaches for any assistance.
For more information including how to apply, please visit: Help if you're a student with a learning difficulty, health problem or disability: Disabled Students' Allowance - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)