Supporters
At Health Exchange we offer free and confidential support to people to access a wide variety of health information. In addition, we are able to signpost to local support groups and have links with many health related organisations and programmes. We can help individuals to access other health services such as doctors, dentists, opticians and pharmacists.
Health Exchange have Supporters and Support Plus Buddies who are trained to deliver free and confidential health information and lifestyle choice services. Health Supporters are available at Community Sites throughout the Heart of Birmingham and we have a pool of trained Health Supporters on whom we can call to work at local events and deliver healthy lifestyle programmes or initiatives on behalf of other allied health organisations and groups. Supporters and Support Plus Buddies regularly undertake training and awareness sessions in many aspects of Health and Well-being.
Health Exchange has developed a pool of trained local residents who act as Health Supporters in local communities and who are in a good position to break down barriers such as language or culture that have been known to block access to health services. In this way, Health Exchange works with and supports communities to achieve better health and well being. Supporters are mostly recruited from the communities they serve and in this way we are confident that they are able to reach people who are not generally touched by Health Promotion. Our Health Supporters and Support Plus Buddies are a vital way of engaging with communities and the voluntary sector in empowering individuals to make informed and positive lifestyle choices and in this way help to tackle the health inequalities that have had such a profound effect on people’s lives.
Visit community sites to find out where you can find a Health Supporter.
Case Study
Mr Lauterbach had been smoking for 50 years. He had been vaguely aware of Stop Smoking Services but it was only when he was attending a Chronic Disease Education course at his Primary Care Centre that he was approached by a Health Supporter, Kirandeep, who was able to explain in detail about Stop Smoking Services through our Brief Intervention.
Kirandeep was able to tell him that the service is free and confidential and that advisors are based in pharmacists, surgeries, the hospital and other venues throughout the area and that the Stop Smoking clinics are therefore easily accessible to anyone within their own community. She was also able to remind him about the benefits of smoking cessation and advise him of his nearest clinic.
Mr Lauterbach wanted to see a Stop Smoking Advisor immediately and Kirandeep therefore accompanied him and introduced him to the pharmacist who gave Mr Lauterbach “a very good consultation” and put him on a course of nicotine replacement.
Mr Lauterbach reports that he is still struggling to quit but he is very hopeful now that he is on the Stop Smoking programme as “he had been trying for ages” until he talked with Kirandeep.
Kirandeep herself is very happy to have been able to introduce Mr Lauterbach to smoking cessation and to the full range of services provided by the Health Exchange.
