Obesity and smoking are both risk factors for a range of conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, the biggest causes of premature mortality in Wolverhampton. Levels of obesity and smoking are higher in the city compared to the national and regional averages.
The City of Wolverhampton Council is currently developing a new lifestyle and behaviour change service that will not only strengthen the existing weight management and smoking cessation services but make these services accessible to all those who live, work or are registered with a GP in Wolverhampton.
Running over a period of 12 weeks, the service will offer information, advice, and guidance, self help tools and lifestyle interventions to enable people to make and maintain positive lifestyle choices.
People living with obesity will also be offered group weight management sessions or tailored support via a weight management app, while smokers who want to quit will be able to access free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or vape starter kits.
These starter kits will be offered as part of the national ‘swap to stop’ scheme for which Wolverhampton has been chosen as one of the 11 trailblazer organisations across the Midlands.
Referrals to the new service, due to launch next year, will initially be made via GPs, with clinics held in community locations across the city and at the Mander Centre Health Hub. There are also plans to provide a self referral route via the Health Hub in due course.
Councillor Jasbir Jaspal, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Adults and Wellbeing, said: "We have fundamental concerns about levels of obesity and smoking in Wolverhampton, with rates for both higher than the national and regional average, and we know that both of these conditions have a huge impact on people’s health and wellbeing.
"We want to do everything we can to help our residents to lead more healthy lifestyles and this new service will offer support to those who want it in a simple, local and accessible way.
“The smoking cessation service will also support the Government’s ambition for the country to become ‘smokefree’ by 2030 by helping people quit or by encouraging adult smokers to switch to a less harmful vape."
