Real life stories
Healthy choices
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Anthony has lost a lot of weight following advice from his GP. He says, “I plan to continue losing weight, go swimming with sharks and try skydiving.”
“At Skegness you can swim with sharks." Anthony continues. “I like doing dangerous things, I’m a bit of daredevil so I’m saving up to do this and skydiving as well.”
Being overweight is a risk factor for everyone because it increases our chances of developing health problems. In addition, evidence suggests that people with learning disabilities are at an even higher risk of poor health linked to obesity than the general population. Anthony's story shows how we can support people to respond to issues we identify.
“It’s been difficult to lose weight” says Anthony. “I was at home more and I wasn’t doing my normal things like I used to. I tried not eating rubbish food, like biscuits, chocolate, and other stuff."
"I’m 24 and I've lived on my own for six years, before this I lived with my foster parents. I get support for going out and helping with my food shopping. I do all my own cooking.”
“I plan my meals now. I choose every day what I want. Staff have helped me stop eating all my food in one day. They encouraged me to cut down. I’m not eating as much as I used to. Chelsea is my keyworker, but other staff come in regularly.”
Chelsea says, “he’s been brilliant, it’s all been Anthony’s choice to lose weight, but we check monthly to see if there’s anything he wants to change.”
She continues “the amount of stuff that Anthony does by himself now... he even checks the sugar contents of his food when we go shopping."
“I’ve known Anthony since he was 16 because I was in foster care myself. We met at events and I worked at a holiday club that Anthony went to with his foster family. I already had a good bond with Anthony so, when I started working here, I wanted to be his keyworker. He likes going swimming which is also one of my favourite sports.”
“Anthony’s biggest weight loss was when he went on an all-inclusive holiday, to a water-park, swimming, and stuff like that. He could eat whatever he wanted, but because he was so active, he managed to lose a stone.”
Anthony says “now I’ve lost weight I like going to the gym, I like visiting aquariums and I do a lot more walking. I can go on bike rides on my own, exploring the open fields and woods.”
Choice Support conducts an annual health survey to monitor how well we are performing against national averages. This informs all our staff and enables us to support people to respond to any issues we find.
Overall, epilepsy and diabetes were controlled well with medication and/or diet (for diabetes). From our health survey
80% of the people we support are having an eye test every two years. From our health survey
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