The group turned up regardless of weather conditions complying with all six sessions and even one participant purchased their own set of poles with the intention of Nordic walking regularly!
Feedback from the group:
" Highly effective technique which I feel is helping with my balance and coordination, the benefits that I am feeling from using the poles have spurned me to purchase my poles, which I will use on a daily basis, I feel sad that the course is finished."
"Struggled with the technique at the start, but persistence paid off, helping me with my balance, would like to attend a class regularly, nice touch with the certificates, thank you for teaching us a new skill."
Group consultations are a way for primary care practices to bring together individuals for support with long-term conditions, helping them to better manage their own health and share their experiences and learning with others.
While a traditional clinician and patient appointment, such as an asthma or diabetes review, lasts around 10-15 minutes, group consultations run for around 60 minutes with a maximum of 6-8 participants. This allows patients more time to spend with their healthcare team – and each other. Our sessions are led by trained and experienced Health and Wellbeing Coaches.
Our group consultations are delivered face-to-face at Forsyth House on Woodlands Road in Darlington. We keep the number of participants low to:
Contact your GP today and ask about a referral to the Health and Wellbeing Coaching service!
“Thank you, Primary Healthcare Darlington, the Health and Well-being Coaching service has given me guidance and helped me immensely take back control of my well-being, I feel 100% better within myself, and ready to take on life’s challenges.”
“Having initially been curious about the Health and Wellbeing Coaching service, the conversations within the sessions have helped increased my motivation, and given me accountability to achieve my goals, I really enjoy coming to the sessions.”
“Having lost faith in the NHS, the Health and Well-being Coaching service has helped restore my faith in the NHS, I feel listened to and always come out of the sessions feeling so much better about myself."
“I really look forward to seeing my Health and Wellbeing Coach, I feel listened to and understood, and that means the world to me."
"Outstanding service, it has given me perspective."
"Caroline gave me the space to focus on my needs & able to achieve my goals. She was kind & encouraging & had a lovely smile. Thank you."
GP PRACTICES & OTHER S1 USERS
eReferral via S1's Clinical Tree
PATIENTS
Self-referral by ringing 01325 952577 option 2 and leave a message
VCSE, STATUTORY SERVICES, BLUE LIGHT SERVICES
Ring 01325 952577 option 2 and leave a message
Agencies with secure email, complete referral template and email to: livingwell.darlington@nhs.net
Health and wellbeing coaches support people to increase their ability to self-manage motivation levels and commitment to change their lifestyle. They are experts in behaviour change and focus on improving health related outcomes by working with people to set personalised goals and change their behaviours.
People with physical and/or mental health conditions and those at risk of developing them.
We can support you with:
Yes, you will be assigned a Health and Wellbeing Coach who will work with you throughout.
The choice is yours. We can meet you at Primary Healthcare HQ at Forsyth House on Woodlands Road in Darlington, at Age UK or another community space near you. If you are housebound, we can meet you at home.
You will be offered 6-8 x 45-minute sessions over a period of 12-16 weeks. Some people, however, need only a couple of sessions. It really is up to you.
During the first session, your Health & Wellbeing Coach will find out more about you, your lifestyle, values, goals, and anything that might get in the way of achieving those goals. Together we will set one or two initial short-term goals. In the sessions that follow, we will review your progress, set new goals and discuss any challenges you have faced to help you overcome these in the future.
No, Health and Wellbeing Coaching is a FREE NHS service provided by Primary Healthcare Darlington on behalf of your GP Practice.
Health and Wellbeing coaches support proactive holistic patient care helping to motivate patients to sustain lifestyle changes. In Darlington, we carry out consultations face-to-face or remotely via video or telephone consultation. Our health coaches take referrals from GP Practices and, based on the patient’s needs, provide 1:1 sessions offering individual tailored support, offering clinician-led discussions (if required) and peer support. The team will also offer group consultations for weight management. In addition to referrals from Practices, our Health and Wellbeing Coaches also use Proactive Case Finding to identify patients who would benefit from a coaching intervention.
Areas of General Practice where Health and Wellbeing Coaches can support Practices and potentially alleviate GP workload include:
CDDFT: County Durham and Darlington Foundation Trust
TEWV: Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust
MDT: Multidisciplinary Team
HWBC: Health and Wellbeing Coach
S1: SystmOne - Clinical Recording System
VCSE: Voluntary, community or social enterprise organisation
Health and Wellbeing Coach: Rhys Todd
Background: John was referred into the Health and Wellbeing Coaching Service after proactive case finding, focusing on individuals who were diagnosed with hypertension throughout November 2022. Within our initial session, I asked John the question “What would be helpful for me to know about you to make this an effective coaching process?”. John then informed me that his main aim was in fact to decrease his blood pressure; he further went on to discuss how he had little knowledge and activation in creating a personalised care plan for this.
Approach: Throughout the coaching process with John, I adopted a non-directive, strength-based approach to increase his motivation and self-awareness, and to also develop trust and rapport in the coaching relationship. This was achieved by focusing on what has worked in the past, as opposed to focusing on the reasons as to why outcomes/goals/actions may not have been achieved. Furthermore, our sessions included frequent use of the “ask/share/ask” coaching model. With John’s consent, I would share information with him in relation to factors affecting blood pressure, from physical activity to stress management. This was to increase John’s knowledge on the subject, with the aim of increasing his control/self-management skills regarding his long-term health.
Defining the goal: When creating an agreed action plan/shared decision-making outcome, John and I would make sure they were SMART. Goals needed to be attainable to maintain motivation and increase responsibility for the coachee. We looked to create short-term goals for longer-term success, celebrating each small achievement session by session. As well as SMART, goals also needed to be HARD; Heartfelt, Animated, Required, and Difficult. HARD goals reminded John of his motives: setting an example for his children and increasing longevity. A “difficult” goal also led to improvement in John’s self-management skills – having outcomes which required thought, activation and action made him more accountable and independent.
Reality: John presented with little motivation, knowledge, and activation in creating a personalised care plan. John also discussed his mental wellbeing with me – he was anxious, full of worry, and had a lot of self-doubt in his ability. Furthermore, stress at work was a big barrier for John. Working in a small team, constantly being monitored on performance and time-management led to pressure which, in turn, would increase his stress levels and affect blood pressure. This stress then led to comfort eating, staying home, and was affecting his relationships.
Options: To explore John’s options, we discussed what current opportunities he has, and his capability in taking them. This was in regard to a number of factors, ranging from nutrition, to support from others, to sleep. A few examples which then stemmed from this conversation included having the opportunity to start walking on a weekend, beginning to make some healthy breakfasts to set himself up for a busy day at work, and to speak with his partner about how he is feeling. I also decided to go a level deeper when discussing John’s options by asking the question “What happens if nothing changes?”.
Way forward: Following his first two sessions, John was clear on how he thought the coaching process would work best moving forward. We would look to book an appointment each week, having a SMART outcome to work towards each time. Health and wellbeing coaching would be used as a “check-in” in John’s own words – he would have someone to report to and encourage him to keep going. We then established an effective relationship, and I was a proactive partner for John – we each had our own roles and responsibilities in the process: I was present to find out what mattered to John, to draw out his internal strengths, and to provide information on topics if he would like it shared.
Outcome: Throughout our coaching sessions, John worked towards several outcomes which he managed to achieve. This included: sticking to a monthly 300,000 step challenge, incorporating a 5-minute stretching session into his evening routine, starting to eat fish high in omega-3 such as salmon and mackerel, keeping a sleep journal, and having breakfasts which provided him with energy throughout the morning and early afternoon. It was particularly rewarding hearing about the breakfasts as John told me he “never” used to have breakfast and wasn’t aware of the benefits. John was discharged from the coaching service with an “8/10” in confidence sustaining his behaviour change moving forward. Following his one-month check in, John further went on to say how he is managing his long-term health much better, and he understands how to maintain a lower blood pressure.
Client Feedback: “Rhys put me at ease and helped me form achievable goals which I feel I can continue going forward now our sessions are completed. Great service”.
*John is a pseudonym
EQ-5D-5L: Pre and post intervention scores
Pre
Mobility: 3
Self-care: 1
Usual activities: 1
Pain/discomfort: 2
Anxiety/depression: 2
EQ-VAS Score: 60
Post
Mobility: 1
Self-care: 1
Usual activities: 1
Pain/discomfort: 2
Anxiety/depression: 2
EQ-VAS Score*: 90
* The EQ-VAS is a vertical visual analogue scale that takes values between 100 (best imaginable health) and 0 (worst imaginable health), on which patients provide a global assessment of their health. For more information on the scale go HERE.
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