BSLM Newsletter March 2022
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Dear member,
Just over 12 months ago the Board of Trustees decided to go ahead with a plan to transform BSLM. It was about going from a start-up charity, based on volunteer action and input, to establishing a growing and sustainable charity for the long haul.
So what are the main challenges BSLM have faced and will face for the coming months? Executive Director Fraser Quin, shares more, read it here.
As a Charity we rely on membership fee's, so work hard to ensure our Members get value for their money. With free monthly educational webinars, accumulating evidence-based resources and multiple free & discounted offers like free access to our very first course - Lifestyle Medicine: an Overview, we are seeing increased engagement and are really starting to identify and understand what we can bring that will offer the most value.
One area we're actively working on is to create opportunities to support Members to integrate lifestyle in to education and practice. This led us to supporting our future healthcare professionals to deliver the first lifestyle medicine conference of its kind.
The Future of Lifestyle Medicine
The importance of emboldening young, aspiring doctors with the confidence to learn and practice Lifestyle Medicine cannot be understated. Encouraging and enabling this is one of the key principles we have at BSLM, which is why we are delighted to share the success of the Festival of the North last month.
This festival was organised by our Future Health Professionals, alongside other university societies, and was a great success, selling 100 tickets in a short time frame. This success was particularly notable given the difficulties of the pandemic forcing a change from an in-person event to a remote one. There were a number of expert speakers present at the festival, such as Professor Tim Spector and Nick Littlehales, each exploring different pillars of Lifestyle Medicine.
PG Mutual were the proud sponsors of the event and were there to hand out the lifestyle medicine awards. Tom Coan, Account Manager at PG Mutual, spoke of his delight at the festival, and highlighted the "great significance of supporting future healthcare professionals to create a healthier society".
Abinav Mohanamurali, President of the Newcastle University Lifestyle Medicine Society, was instrumental in organising the festival and caught up with us following the event:
"Our very first Lifestyle Medicine Festival of the North, undergraduate conference, was an overwhelming success and we are delighted at how the event turned out! In the space of 5 months, organised by a series of zoom meetings, we were thrilled to secure such an excellent array of speakers who are leaders in their respective fields. We would like to thank them once again for giving up their time to support the ever-growing student lifestyle medicine movement. There is a definite appetite for Lifestyle Medicine within the undergraduate community, and hopefully events like these will enable a greater number to become aware of the importance of lifestyle in health. I look forward to the 2nd Festival of the North next year, hopefully an in-person event!"
A huge congratulations to everyone involved. Everyone at BSLM is excited to see what is to come from our Future Health Professionals.
IN THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
- Stress Management Trainer Course
- Chronic Pain SIG
- Lifestyle as Medicine - Changemakers
- Walk with Docs - Derbyshire Regional Meet
- Register for March's webinar
- Join the Social Prescribing & School Special Interest Groups
- Catch up on the latest lifestyle medicine news, including new blog releases
- Get the latest NHS Network news stories
Stress Management Trainer Course
Stress is a well recognised cause of many chronic physical health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure as well as mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Understanding the warning signs of stress on our physical and emotional health and taking active steps to manage our stress levels could prevent long term health consequences.
Chronic Pain Special Interest Group
The British Society of Lifestyle Medicine (BSLM) value specialist expertise to guide the work of the Society. It convenes a Special Interest Group (SIG) structure and our Chronic Paid SIG are bringing together this webinar to provide an evidence-based resource for members on the specific area of chronic pain
The BSLM Chronic Pain SIG is excited to invite all its members to a free 2 part webinar looking at the new advances in our understanding of pain and the new NICE guidelines. There is a huge impetus in promoting person centred care with recommendations that mirrors so much of how Lifestyle Medicine aims to support patients and healthcare professionals.
In the first part on March 24th, Dr Deepak Ravindran and Dr Meera Tewani, consultants in Pain Medicine and BSLM diplomates 2020, will be introducing the new advances in pain and the implications of the new ICD11 and NICE guidelines. Dr Ravindran will introduce the new advances and Dr Tewani will talk about the role of opioids and challanges and opportunities around opioid prescribing/deprescribing.
Lifestyle as Medicine - Changemakers
Imagine combining the power of video, the magic of a story and the reach of the smartphones in our pockets. We feel this is an idea worth getting super excited about! So, along with BSLM London Regional Director, storyteller and multi-award winning smartphone film maker, Dr Dimple Devadas, we have decided to launch this campaign, and with your help we can turn this into a global movement.
As a Lifestyle as Medicine Changemaker, we invite you to capture your healthy everyday #1Change story, on your smartphone.
Your 1-minute smartphone video film clips with caption / story (maximum 5 words) will be part of a global repository and historical archive of lifestyle medicine. The clips will be curated into a collective film series, which will be premiered and screened at the BSLM annual conference 2022 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.
The focus of the clips (and film), will fall in to 3 key themes:
· Mental Wellbeing
· Health Equity
· Managing, remitting & reversing disease
Find out more about how to become a Changemaker and join our movement via the button below.
REGIONAL MEET:
Walk with Docs - Derbyshire
Friday 18th March | 10:30 | Location: Grindleford Cafe | Non-Members Welcome
BSLM Regional Members & Health professionals looking to learn more about BSLM, meet us at Grindleford Cafe 11 am for a moderate stroll via The Longshaw Estate. This event is also open to non-members from the region and will last up to 2-3 hours. Bring your boots, waterproofs and your questions which we hope to answer.
We are excited to see the return of in person regional meets and getting back out into nature. We look forward to being able to learn and engage with Members, Colleagues & Patients in an outdoor setting. Are you keen to get to know Members in your region? Get in touch office@bslm.org.uk and get involved in getting something going
March Monthly Webinar
You can sign up for the latest BSLM webinar, set to take place on Tuesday 15th February at 7pm. A reminder these webinars provide 1hr of CPD.
Petra Wiedemann will be talking to us about lifestyle medicine and oral health. Meanwhile, in national sleep month, what better than having Dr Sheena Fraser talking all things sleep health.
Our webinars are a great opportunity to get to network with others in similar professions, roles and regions and generally to know you're not alone in fighting chronic disease and the potential lifestyle medicine brings.
You can register via the button below.
Vacancies: Special Interest Groups (SIG)
BSLM value specialist expertise to guide the work of the Society and convene a Special Interest Group (SIG) structure to provide an evidence-based resource for members. Our Social Prescribing and the Schools Special Interest Group (SIG) are looking for currently looking for new members.
If you have a special interest and/or expertise in either of the above areas, we'd love to chat. You would be responsible for creating and documenting best practice and creating resources to prepare health professionals on LM for social prescribing and schools / adolescents.
BSLM is also considering the creation of a Prehabilitation Special interest group. Should this be an area of interest, please do get in touch.
Anyone interested in any of these groups should reach out to us at office@bslm.org.uk
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Lifestyle Medicine Latest News
Exploring Lifestyle Medicine as a Foundation Doctor
The importance of lifestyle medicine can have within the hospital setting cannot be understated. Doctors are crucial in effectively implementing these practices and Akshay Pabary, a Foundation year 1 doctor, provides valuable insight into hospital life and the effect lifestyle medicine can have within that setting.
The lifestyle habits of doctors have direct implications on patient care, something well evidenced in scientific literature. This makes these habits hugely important, not only to the doctors themselves, but to the societies in which they practice their work.
Read the full blog by Akshay here.
GPs set to pilot healthy food prescriptions under Government 'levelling up' plans
GPs are set to be asked to pilot the prescription of healthy foods as part of the Government's strategy to level up healthcare. In this 'Community Eat Well Programme', GPs will now be able to prescribe exercise and healthy food to their patients in the overarching goal to reduce the health inequalities within the UK's richest and poorest communities.
The next steps for this programme look to include food-related education and social support, in the quest to narrow the health disparities that currently exist in society. While this pilot will not solve these issues single-handedly, it is taking a step in a positive direction to achieve this objective.
Read here.
'Levelling up' plan fails to grasp the enormity of the health challenge
The Health Foundation have responded to the government's 'levelling up' plans, highlighting the huge scale of the task at hand. This strategy has been welcomed by Jo Bibby, Director of Health at the Health Foundation, who appreciates the importance of closing the gap in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest areas of the UK.
However, she has identified how the regeneration schemes are too narrowly focused to address the inequalities in left behind areas, and suggests several deprived area will miss out on previously announced funding.
Read more.
Pain in the Neck
Dr Sheena Fraser details her own experiences in dealing with neck pain. These common symptoms of neck pain have caused various difficulties to resolve it, leading to more atypical approaches to treatment...
Read the full blog here.
New Lifestyle Medicine Institute
The Mediterranean Lifestyle Medicine Institute are a new LM organisation and have just launched their website. They will be developing and implementing educational, research, and interventional programs.
The Institute aspires to become a magnet for scientists (investigators, scholars, health professionals, and students) and policy makers from all over the world that will be coming to Greece and the island of Leros to not only study and learn, but also live the tMedLife (Traditional Mediterranean Lifestyle).
Visit their website here.
Two glasses of wine enough to hit daily sugar limit
After analysing more than 30 bottles of fine, Alcohol Health Alliance UK's study has revealed that only two glasses of wine is enough to reach the recommended daily sugar limit in adults.
This research explored bottles of red, white, rosé, fruit and sparkling wine from popular UK brands. Currently, it is not required by law to include nutritional information on the bottles of wine, meaning many wine drinkers are uninformed on the contents of their drink.
There are calls for these rules to change, with the chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK calling the current legislation "absurd".
Read more here.
Childhood-onset insomnia persists into adolescence and adulthood
Childhood-onset insomnia is a chronic issue in 43% of children, a follow-up study has revealed. Difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep is the most commonly reported insomnia symptom amongst children and teenagers. While data is limited, it does highlight the importance of experiencing a healthy sleeping pattern from an early age.
Read more.
Learning Academy Free Members Course:
As you may have already seen, BSLM last week launched our very own Learning Academy, a learning management system designed to provide immersive learning for lifestyle medicine.
This launch is just the beginning, as there are huge plans to expand and improve the content that the Learning Academy offers. This starts with you, as we are offering all BSLM Members the first course "Lifestyle Medicine: An Overview" for free. We would love for all of you to engage in this course and provide your initial feedback, which will inform future course development as we define the “look” of BSLM courses.
You should have received an email from us detailing how to access this free course, so check your inbox. If you have not received it, email office@bslm.org.uk under the subject line "Learning Academy Overview Course" and we will help you access it.
The Learning Academy is a significant step forward for BSLM and forms a key element of our future growth and development plans. It also establishes BSLM as a major player in the Health Education field, and is a sign that BSLM as an aspirational organisation continues to grow and develop its influence and outlook.
Reset your Health
Until May 5th, 2022 (Online)
Reset Your Health is an informative and individualised online programme which equips the user with evidence-based nutritional advice and the practical skills they need to eat healthily. Using a detailed ingredient-based algorithm RYH provides recipes personalised to an individual’s food preferences, dietary requirements and health conditions helping reverse health conditions caused by lifestyle.
Afternoon Tea with Docs
Every Sunday at 5pm (Online on Zoom)
Join Dr Linda Mizun and Dr Erica Lin every Sunday for relaxed and educational health and lifestyle medicine discussion aimed at health professionals and the general public.
Stress Management and Resiliency Training
9am every Wednesday from Feb 23rd - April 12th (Online)
This 8-week research-proven* program will help you develop self-care tools to recognise and manage your stress, reduce medical symptoms and enhance your quality of life.
The course will cost £390. BSLM and PBHP UK members are eligible for a £30 discount.
Can the voluntary sector be successfully embedded in integrated care systems?
Lev Pedro evaluates the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors in integrated care systems (ICS), adopting a community focus over a patient-centric approach. With ICS set to be formalised in July with an aim to develop an improved and more efficient healthcare system, it is important to ensure that such a large undertaking can be successfully implemented...
Challenges for general practice
Professor David Colin-Thomé, chair of PCC, has been exploring general medical practice, noting how it needs to continually meet the increasing expectations of registered patients. Inadequate access, quality care, alongside unwarranted variations in care provision, are of great worldwide concern. These issues have been exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a lack of face-to-face patient contact causing huge apparent issues...
Mike Etkind, founding member of his PCN's patient group and chair of a PPG, amongst more, looks at VCSE's and the role that the community plays and the recognition it gets...
Support our Work with #1Change Merchandise!
Check out our range of #1Change merchandise we have on offer and support our organisation in reframing healthcare! The hoodies, t-shirts and vests available in store are perfect to show off at BSLM2022
