Living Well Programme
What does this service provide?
The Living Well Programme is a free self-management course run by volunteer tutors, created to help people living with any long-term health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, depression, anxiety, back pain and chronic fatigue syndrome.
What do they do?
They run a free six-week self-management course, both online and in person, which has been devised to help you take greater control of your health by learning new skills and techniques to manage your condition better on a daily basis.
Taking place once a week, the course runs over six weekly sessions with each session lasting two hours (for online users) or two-and-a-half hours (for the face-to-face course), including a break. Each course is led by fully trained (but not medically qualified) volunteer tutors who themselves are living with a long-term health condition.
As well as learning new skills to help you manage your condition, this course also provides a great opportunity for you to meet other people sharing similar experiences.
Topics covered during the 6-week course include:
- How to manage common symptoms such as pain, fatigue, stress, anxiety, isolation, depression, physical limitations, shortness of breath and poor sleep
- Goal setting and problem solving
- Decision-making
- Communication skills
- Accessing NHS services and working with your healthcare team
- Relaxation and distraction techniques
- Positive thinking
- Managing medications
- Breathing exercises
- Sleep
- Healthy eating
- Physical activity.
Feedback and evaluation of the programme has shown that six months after completing the course, participants had greater confidence in managing their condition, more energy, improved quality of life and psychological wellbeing and improved partnerships with doctors.
Appointment information
Who you'll see at your appointment
The course is run by trained (but not medically qualified) volunteer tutors. Their online courses include up to 10 people, and face-to-face courses include up to 16 people, so you will have the chance to see and speak to other participants who are sharing a similar experience to yourself.
Where your appointment will be?
The course runs online via Microsoft Teams and in person. Face-to-face community courses are run in various locations across West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.
Can my partner/carer come to the course with me?
They recommend you attend the sessions on your own, but feel free to discuss this with a member of our team.
Preparing for your appointment
If you are taking our online course, you'll be offered a one-to-one video call with an administrator in advance, to ensure you're familiar with both Microsoft Teams and the Slido applications they use during the course.
At the end of each session, you are invited to share a goal for the week ahead and then to feedback on how you got on at the beginning of the following session.
What happens after my course ends?
Once the course has finished, they encourage you to stay in touch with your fellow participants, if you'd like to do so. They also produce a participant newsletter every two months for those who would like to receive it.
If you are interested in volunteering yourself, there's an opportunity to apply to become a volunteer tutor for the service.
If you'd like to access the service, complete the self-referral form below.