During Self Care Week 2020 (Nov 16 - 22) people across Frimley Health and Care are being urged to take greater control of their own wellbeing so they can enjoy many more years of good health.
By eating healthily, losing weight, becoming more active, stopping smoking and cutting down on the amount of alcohol consumed, people can transform their quality of life, with long-lasting consequences.
There are also many techniques people can use at home to support their mental wellbeing, from breathing exercises and mindfulness to yoga.
But the improvements don’t stop there. Ensuring you have the vaccinations and medicines you need, that you keep a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home and that you contact health services as soon as you have any serious concerns, are all part of caring for yourself.
Across Frimley Health and Care we're running a campaign to raise awareness about how people can improve their own health and wellbeing. Click on the 'Wheel of Self Care' on the right to see the aspects we're covering.
Dr Tim Ho is a consultant chest physician, the Medical Director of Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust and the Lead for the Living Well programme for Frimley Health and Care. He said: “Healthcare isn’t something that is done just when we have a GP appointment or when we’re in hospital, it’s something that we all play a key role in. It starts at home with what we eat and drink, what exercise we do and the way we look after ourselves.
“We can all have much more control over our long-term health so I would urge people across East Berkshire, Surrey Heath and North East Hampshire and Farnham to think about the small daily changes that will make a real difference to our long term health – all the more important during this lockdown period.”
Frimley Health and Care is working to ensure not only that its residents have longer lives but also that they enjoy many more years of good physical and mental health. It is targeting health behaviours through which it believes it can make the greatest difference, such as smoking and physical inactivity, through to the social factors that underpin our ability to live well, like education and employment, health inequalities, housing and air pollution.
Tessa Lindfield is Strategic Director of Public Health in Bracknell and is working with Tim Ho on the Frimley Health and Care Living Well programme. She said: “Across our system we’re working on large-scale, strategic plans to lay a solid foundation to support living well to be our default position.
“While these projects will take time to have an impact, there are many things that we can all do right now to change our lives, and the lives of our families, for the better.
“We know it’s not always easy because of the pressures and distractions of modern life but there is plenty of support and advice available and we’re working hard to make it easier for people to make the healthy choices.”
Visit our Helping You to Stay Well pages to find out more information on ways to improve your health and wellbeing.
