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Tier 3 Weight Management
What is the Tier 3 Weight Management programme?
The Tier 3 Weight Management programme is a specialist programme involving a team of healthcare professionals providing tailored care for people who have excess weight. The service offers a 12 week programme followed by regular support for up to two years.
Within the 12 week programme patients will see a dietitian, physiotherapist and counsellor. They will also have access to a specialist doctor who may be able to help in improving health conditions or adjusting medications to help patients lose weight. The programme consists of group meetings, one-to-one consultations, and, where possible, online support. To gain access to the programme, patients need to be referred by their GP and meet certain criteria.
The Tier 3 Weight Management programme is made up of three key areas to help patients with their weight, this includes counselling, physiotherapy and information from a dietician.
Counselling
In the programme we offer group sessions and one to one sessions to give people an opportunity to explore where their difficulties with food come from and to work out what changes they want to make for themselves. The programme is about benefiting the patients’ health as a whole, not just losing weight. It is a holistic approach that takes into account physical activity, diet, medical conditions/medication and mental health.
Poor mental health can impact on our diet in many ways. We make around 200 food decisions every day and our ability to make healthy food choices reduced the more tired and stressed we are.
Group therapy offers a safe non-judgemental space, with people going through similar difficulties and it gives an opportunity to explore things that have impacted upon life and the patients’ relationship with food.
Feedback from patients who have already been through the programme shows that support from peers within the group has helped to motivate them to make healthier changes to their lives.
Diet
We understand that our patients will have tried various weight loss approaches in the past and may have had some success, but often it has been difficult to maintain the weight loss. In the tier 3 programme, rather than offering a “one size fits all” diet plan, we promote a lifestyle based approach in which people are supported to make small sustainable changes to their dietary intake.
The dietary component of the programme is predominantly group based. These groups offer a supportive and non-judgemental environment where experiences and ideas can be shared amongst people with similar issues. We discuss topics ranging from the balance of a healthy diet and food labeling, to emotional eating and understanding the reasons behind our eating behaviours.
Advice can be tailored to patients’ individual needs and patients can continue to access regular follow up with the dietitian to monitor progress after completing the initial 12 week programme.
Physiotherapy
Exercise and activity is a key component of a healthy lifestyle and part of the self-management required for the Tier 3 Weight Management Programme. Physiotherapy led groups consist of weekly exercise sessions where individuals are guided though a graded approach to exercise in a supportive and relaxed environment. For those who have not exercised recently, are new to exercise or feeling under confident, the groups are an ideal place to be supported with their individual exercise goals. For many who have already completed the initial 12 weeks of the programme, attending an exercise group on a weekly basis has increased their understanding of different exercises, how to perform these with the correct technique and has given them more confidence to be active and in their bodies ability to exercise.
There are also physiotherapy educational sessions where different topics are discussed each week such as; how active we should aim to be, how we can fit more activity into a busy lifestyle, the barriers to being active and strategies for overcoming these and understanding and managing pain. Groups create a positive learning environment where individuals are often keen to share their experiences as well as tips and ideas.
By combining knowledge from the physiotherapy, counselling and dietician group, patients are able to make informed and positive changes to their health and weight management.
Contact details
- Telephone: 01904 725652
- Email: yhs-tr.yt3wmp@nhs.net
Patients on the Tier 3 Weight Management programme can also request to join the closed Tier 3 Weight Management programme Facebook group to share ideas and gain further advice.
