Norfolk health trainers to receive qualifications at special event

20 November 2009:

A group of 12 health trainers from Norfolk will be presented with their qualifications next week at a special event which will gather 150 health trainer colleagues from across the east of England area.

The event, organised by Sue Green, East of England Health Trainer Hub Lead, is due to take place in Duxford on Monday, November 23. The health trainers will be officially presented with a City & Guilds level 3 certificate, after achieving a set of core competencies which assess their skills.

The role of the health trainers is to speak with members of their own community and work to bring about behaviour changes in areas such as smoking cessation, healthy eating and sensible alcohol consumption.

The Health Trainer service in Norfolk is funded by NHS Norfolk, with trainers in Thetford, King’s Lynn and Norwich. The service is designed to reach members of the public who tend to not access standard NHS support services.

Sue Green, East of England Health Trainer Hub Lead, said: “The Health Trainer event is an opportunity to celebrate their achievements so far, but also share experiences from across the region and discuss best practice in order to improve the service even further.

“The health trainer service is designed to change people’s attitudes to various things, such as smoking. This is achieved by talking on a one-to-one basis with a health trainer in your community, who can then empower you to make the change you want to make but need support.”

The aim of the service is to reduce people’s risk of developing serious conditions related to being overweight, being a smoker or drinking more than recommended amounts. By changing their attitudes to these things, the chance of developing conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease will be reduced.

Sue continued: “This will have an obvious impact on the individual’s health, as well as reducing the need for the local NHS to spend on treating these conditions in the future. However, the health trainer programme is aimed at helping people who are ready to accept change and support them to achieve their goals of a healthier life.”