Case study: Community initiatives - Helping the community lose weight
Our principal pharmaceutical wholesale business in the UK, Alliance Healthcare (Distribution), has continued to work with NHS Coventry in
the UK to facilitate the expansion of our weight management programmes in independent
pharmacies. Research shows that in Coventry, over half of the adult population are overweight
and 23%* are ‘clinically obese’, with a Body Mass Index of more than 30. Ten pharmacies across
Coventry took part in the programme’s first year, following its launch in January 2007, helping
obese patients to make healthy lifestyle changes. There are now 12 pharmacies in Coventry
involved in the project, with more than 100 patients currently on the programme.
Weight management programmes are a good way of providing healthy lifestyle advice and support for making changes to everyday activities, which includes helping people to improve their diet and increase physical activity. This not only has an impact on their weight, but also their self-esteem and confidence and, more importantly, their health, with a potential for long term benefits.
In January 2009, we published findings from the Coventry Pharmacy Weight Management project. The report, which follows the progress of 34 patients who completed the first year of the pharmacy-led scheme, highlighted that 30 of the patients shed a combined total of around 20 stone (127 kg), supported by regular visits to their local pharmacists to be weighed and get helpful tips.
The success of the scheme in Coventry has led to us securing further funding from the Department of Health for five other similar projects. Since the year end, we have launched two additional weight management initiatives in Nottingham and Gwynedd, working in partnership with local health authorities and independent pharmacies. The NHS Nottingham City programme involves 25 pharmacies, recruiting 20 patients each and targeting 500 patients across Nottingham, and will run for an initial 12 months. The programme has been redesigned for Nottingham to make it available for a greater number of patients and utilise the skills, existing relationships and expertise of the trained pharmacy support team. The initiative in Gwynedd is being run in partnership with Gwynedd Local Health Board, Community Pharmacy Wales and local pharmacies. The programme involves six pharmacies and will potentially involve more than 60 patients, also running for an initial 12 month period.
- Source: Development and assessment of a pharmacy-based obesity management service, Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust, October 2008.
