Last month we launched our Healthy Weight and Treating Obesity Community of Practice (CoP), to continue the momentum from our LOC in the Lakes conference, and to learn and improve as a system in this important area of work.

We were reminded of the key priorities which delegates came up with at the LOC conference:

• using health literacy to promote access;
• start a conversation for partnership between schools, the Integrated Care Board (ICB), providers about food education and cooking;
• good food economy and community links/healthy weight declaration;
• a support offer at the point of pregnancy without putting all responsibility on the woman;
• building a social movement;
• digital or Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support for individuals on the waiting list; and
• how do we get a stigma-informed system working.

We were then joined by Will Smith (Healthier Weight and Treating Obesity Strategic Manager, North East and North Cumbria ICS) who provided an update on the system workstreams following the conference and the sub-groups that people could get involved in.

Sam Joughlin (Director and Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist, Together We) presented: ‘Beyond the scale: Psychological aspects of obesity’. The aim of this workshop was to broaden understanding of the causes of obesity, focusing on psychological elements and hear from lived experience voices.

We agreed on the next steps for this CoP which included creating a collaborative wall space and continuing to meet bi-monthly. Below are some of the things that participants said they would like to achieve from this CoP, and what a successful CoP would look like:

• networking opportunities and hearing about best practice;
• ideas, what’s worked for other services;
• training;
• linking up with professionals working within similar services;
• mapping of what’s available across the patch would be so helpful;
• opportunity to build connectivity between services;
• a one-stop shop on Boost to link those professions and services;
• are there any gaps in workforce learning that we can plug as a group and use the learning academy to host it;
• research agendas explored and supported to evidence good practice;
• lived experience/involvement opportunities; and
• more discussion about how social media use has such a strong link with disordered eating.

If you would like to find out more about this Community of Practice, check out the page here.

To join this community of practice or come along and present and share your work at one of the upcoming sessions, please get in touch via [email protected]

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