Joe works in Finance, but as
a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, he was
furloughed and then later made redundant. This meant he had a lot of time on
his hands and often felt stuck at home.
He visited his GP for a
routine diabetes check-up and
as part of the review, the Doctor referred Joe to
Grace, a Social
Prescribing Link Worker at The Active Wellbeing Society
(TAWS).
Grace held a triage conversation with Joe
to find out what support he needed, then invited him to
join one
of TAWS’ local social walking groups, to
help him manage his weight and build social connections. Jo explained,
‘I
was referred to this walk by my surgery,
which is Moseley, as part of the weight loss programme because I’m diabetic.
And because of lockdown as well and I was not doing anything. The idea was to
get me doing something.’
Joe really enjoys being
part of the walking group and the regular routine it has created. ‘It
helps my mental wellbeing because I look forward to this every Tuesday. I
live alone. So, I come
out and we have a little, you know, we have a banter, we
have a good laugh.’
He explained that he feels as though he can only
go out walking when he’s part of the group, ‘some
of us cannot come out and do this alone. I only do it with this group, that’s
it.’ When he’s with
them he doesn’t feel fazed by
the weather or feel like
he’s exercising. He explained, ‘you
don’t feel it because you look forward to seeing this family, if I should use
the word, because they have become like family to me.’
Since joining the walking
group, Joe has lost one stone
in weight and his diabetes has improved. ‘My
blood sugar was between twelve, fourteen,
whatever, now it’s between seven and nine.
Same medication, but now it’s between seven and nine.’ Sally,
the Community Delivery Worker who leads the sessions, pushes the group to walk up
inclines and improve their fitness and mobility. Jo has seen a big improvement
in his physical health, as he explains,
‘It
has made a lot of difference to me. There are things, tasks that before I would
have felt cumbersome, but because I do this, you know, I’m able
to do things easily without thinking. Go up a flight of stairs without an
elevator, things like that because I do this.’
Joe has been applying for
jobs, but he says that when he has interviews or phone calls about Universal
Credit, he tries to keep this part of Tuesday afternoon free so that he can
attend the walking group. ‘Because once
I miss it, I miss it for the whole week.’
We
have a range of support groups and activity sessions which
patients can access, such as walking groups, growing
activities and communal eating. To find out more about our Social Prescribing
offer, visit https://theaws.co.uk/social-prescribing/ or
contact the Primary Care Network Lead to
identify your Social Prescribing Link Worker.
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