Guiding Islington residents to reduce risk of health conditions

Age UK Islington Social Prescribers host information sessions together with London Met Dietician Students to help reduce the risk of health conditions

Age UK Islington Social Prescribing Link Worker, Nathaniel pictured together with London Met dietician students Paula and Emilie

In August, Age UK Islington social prescribers worked together with three dietician students from London Met University to put on two information sessions for patients about healthy eating to manage a specific health condition. Patients at GPs in the South and Central 1 Primary Care Network with high cholesterol or pre-diabetes were invited to attend.

Part of the scope of social prescribing is to share information with relevant patients to help tackle health inequalities.

Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Too much cholesterol can block your blood vessels. It makes you more likely to have heart problems or a stroke. 

What both conditions have in common is that small changes in diet and lifestyle can often make a significant difference and in some cases reverses the condition.

About the information sessions

The dietician students hosted information sessions at London Metropolitan University, providing a 30 min presentation and the opportunity to ask questions.

The presentations gave an insight into what’s happening within the body, when someone is either pre-diabetic or has high cholesterol. They provided details about the condition and the reasons to choose certain foods over others.

There was a good turn-out for both sessions. Attendees left with an information pack which included recipe ideas, details of local programmes to help manage diabetes, their weight and groups to help keep active. 

This included Arsenal in the Community Men’s Shape Up programme which helps people to keep active and with weight loss. There were also suggestions for phone apps e.g. Active 10 and NHS Weight Loss plan and ways to keep active even if you have limited mobility, e.g. seated exercise classes.

Many people who attended the sessions said they would go away and take some positive action as a result of attending.

One attendee said, “The information session was very good. Whilst I was given some information before, I now know more about what to eat and what not to. I will try to put some of the information into practice and see how it goes for me.” 

Some of the feedback highlighted specific areas of knowledge that they had taken away from the session, such as an understanding of the different types of cholesterol and the foods that they are found in.

Another attendee was reassured by the fact that they could focus on “Realistic goals, that they believed that they could achieve, swapping certain foods for others”.

Who are Age UK Islington Social Prescribing Link Workers

Age UK Islington Social Prescribing Link Workers work in partnership with GP surgeries in South and Central 1 areas of Islington.

GPs refer patients to the SPLWs to help with anything that’s non-medical, that the patient is having difficulty with or wanting to find out about.  This could be to do with social opportunities, money issues, managing independently at home, support to help with the self-management of health conditions and much more.  This might be simple information and advice or it could be longer term help with things like getting documentation together, form-filling and help to contact relevant organisations.  It also involves encouragement and follow-up.

Michael O’Dwyer, Head of Services - Personalised Care & Support, says “Social prescribing is more than dealing with just the practical issues.  Groups of people experience health inequalities and social prescribers can help these groups of people gain a better understanding of their health conditions and what practical steps they can take to help themselves.  This might mean tailoring information and the way that it is delivered, so that it is relevant and meaningful, empowering people to take action.”

The Dietician Students

All three students Paula, Krya and Emilie are passionate about food, the power of a healthy diet and its ability to change the quality of people’s lives. 

London Met Dietician Students Emilie, Paula, Kyra

Paula

As a teenager I spent time looking online for recipes to make meals.  In doing so, I discovered a world of nutrition and how the food that you eat can have such a big impact on both our physical and mental health.  I used the knowledge to help family members and when I came to choose what I wanted to study, it seemed a natural choice.

Kyra

I’ve always had an interest in food – it is something which is such a big part of life.  Food is everywhere.  It’s also very much a social aspect of life.  My grandparents had diabetes and I did quite a lot of research to help them manage their condition.  I think it’s this which influenced me to do a dietetics degree.

Emilie

I always wanted to do something that would make a difference to people, and nutrition interventions can have such a powerful impact. I have 5 siblings and we all experienced our own nutritional challenges.  I also worked for Cancer Research UK for a year, where I learnt more about how improvements to the diet can help prevent a lot of cancer cases.  In studying dietetics I am keen to obtain the expertise to help people make a significant difference to the quality of their lives.

Next steps

The dietician students shared their thoughts about what their thoughts are about "Overcoming barriers to healthier eating" and also shared some key messages to help make "Healthy eating easier".  They also shared follow-up programmes & information sources for Diabetes and Looking After Your Heart / Manaing High Cholesterol.

If you are concerned about your health, call the NHS on 111 or speak to your GP.

For any more information about the Age UK Islington pilot study, please contact Michael O'Dwyer, Head of Services - Personalised Care & Support via the Age UK Islington helpline: 020 7281 6018.