Our health & wellbeing NOW!
Firstly, thank you to our three donors for awarding us grants to enable us to update, re-print and deliver a Health & Wellbeing Directory to every household in the Parish of Wedmore. Our three donors are:- Wedmore Community Power Cooperative, The Bluebird Café and Sand Cider Festival. These grants will enable everyone in Wedmore to have easily accessible information about all the organisations which can support our health & wellbeing. Some people have queried what we mean by the term ‘wellbeing’, how it relates to our overall ‘health’ and what helps to improve ‘wellbeing’. Perhaps a good place to start would be with the World Health Organisation’s definition of ‘health’, as follows:- ‘Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. This was adopted as part of the WHO’s Constitution in 1946. www.who.int/about/governance/constitution
Another interesting and relevant statement is as follows:- ‘Informed opinion and active co-operation on the part of the public are of the utmost importance in the improvement of the health of the people’. I hope this is something we are striving towards with our Directory, Wellbeing Days and this monthly item. A sense of ‘wellbeing’ could perhaps include the following:- feeling valued, feeling that we belong, feeling life has meaning, feeling pleasure in whatever ‘floats our boat’! Research has shown that there are five key ways to help us achieve a sense of ‘wellbeing’, as follows:- ‘keep moving’, ‘invest in relationships’, ‘never stop learning’, ‘give to others’ and ‘savour the moment’. Our Directory is set out so that each of these five key themes are covered by our clubs, societies, organisations as well as contact details for key healthcare professionals and organisations – all in one place! An added bonus of striving towards these ‘Five Ways to Wellbeing’ is that they can have definite health benefits too, eg, ‘keeping moving’ can lower the risk of a number of significant diseases, for example, coronary heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, depression and dementia. www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-health-benefits/. Also, surprisingly, feeling lonely is thought to be a risk factor for these diseases too, so ‘investing in relationships’ and ‘giving to others’ can help minimise feelings of loneliness.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)01411-3/fulltext
If you think there is an organisation which needs to be considered for inclusion in our Directory, please contact me as soon as possible. Contact details below.
Our Future Health – you can help!
If you are over 18 you can join a UK wide research programme to ‘support new discoveries that will help everyone live longer and healthier lives’. The premise is that
‘Too often, we detect and treat diseases only when patients start showing symptoms’. The goal is to ‘find ways to prevent, detect and treat diseases earlier’. This programme is in partnership with the NHS and the aim is to recruit 5 million people. As a volunteer, it is simple to do and, from my experience, not too painful – apart from the blood test! Just go to their website to find out more and sign up. ourfuturehealth.org.uk
Our Health – minimising the risk of Flu and COVID.
A challenge for our sense of wellbeing are those pesky conditions of THE FLU and COVID! To minimise your risk of these, we are advised to be vaccinated, when we are at risk. NHS England is rolling out a large vaccination programme starting this Autumn which will comprise of the following vaccinations:- Respiratory Syncytial Virus (commonly known as RSV), Flu, COVID, Shingles and Pneumonia. There are different eligibility criteria for each disease. RSV is under recognised in adults and this is a new vaccine. Its clinical presentation and severity of illness is similar to flu. It is associated with heart disease & chronic lung disease. A single dose of vaccine will help to boost protection as patients reach an age group at highest risk of serious RSV infection. Axbridge & Wedmore Medical Practice will be embarking on their vaccination programme in the Autumn and vaccinations for Flu and COVID will be co-administered. You will be invited by your Practice as appropriate. To see all the details go to www.whawb.co.uk
Support for people with dementia and their carers in Wedmore
Carer’s Group
Do you care for or support a person with dementia? Then this friendly informative group is for you! Come along on the first Friday of the month to The Swan Hotel, Wedmore between 10am and 12md, next meeting on Friday 6th September. If you want to find out more about the Memories Workshops and Carers’ Group, phone HeadsUp on 01749 670667 or email Sally Sargeant at wedmorecarers@yahoo.com You can also see their latest Newsletter by going to www.whawb.co.uk
Cathy Butterworth
Wedmore Health & Wellbeing Project
01934 806266