A keep well health check
is where we invite men and women between the ages of 45 and 64
to come along and have a health check on their blood pressure, cholesterol
and any other factors they wish to discuss with the approval and consent of their GP.
In essence a keep well health check is really just an MOT for anyone between the age of 45 and 64.
Some people are unaware of any health issues that haven’t been identified
because they haven’t been to see their GP for such a long time.
So we can help identify those problems for them and obviously
set them on the right path to help them improve their health in general.
We look at anticipatory care rather than waiting to a disease or a problem develops
so hopefully the person can do something about it
before there is ill health.
What happens in a keep well health check is that you come and see somebody
like myself for 40 minutes and I’ll check a blood pressure
and we do height and weights and kind of see if patients
are a wee bit overweight or the blood pressure is up.
We take some blood tests and its generally for cholesterol,
looking at your good and your bad fats.
We will also want to know how the patient is feeling in their life themselves.
People feel a wee bit lost in the system
and a lot of the time people will say ‘I don’t want to bother the GP’
so I think the Keep Well project is ideal because the person
is getting seen by nurse they get talking a bit about their issues
and then from there the nurse can signpost them,
and that might involve like, I’ll do counseling with them
if they need counseling,
life coaching if its maybe you know something a goal that they might have.
I also do acupuncture in the ear with them
and stress management.
I found out about the Keep Well project initially because a letter dropped
through the letterbox saying that I was of a specific age
and inviting me to come along.
I thought anything extra to help people like myself
who’s overweight or might have a medical problem,
to you know, give it a go, so I did.
I usually only tend to go to the doctor when I really have to,
when I’m really not well, so this was very pleasant.
What I felt when I got the letter inviting me was
in my family on my fathers side there is a history of heart disease
so I didn’t want to be like that and I thought well this test shows me
that there is a hereditary problem.
Which is one of the things the girl had explained,
you know the cholesterol checks,
if I needed to have a second cholesterol check would show was it hereditary,
was it something that you needed medication for then obviously I could get something
to deal with that so I won’t be in that position.
So I went from being hmmm I don’t know really know if its going to be up to much -
to thinking its probably going to be of use to me.
They were asking me you know quite a few questions.
I am dyslexic so I couldn’t fill the form in.
So there was no problem they filled the form in
and they helped me on the weight scales as well,
as they had problems with my feet and I found it really comforting
you know that they were quite friendly.
I think actually sitting talking with the doctor
and finally looking at my parents’ health and there being a history of heart disease
on both sides and my own weight and putting it together
and having somebody say to me ‘you are at risk’.
That was what finally made me step back and think
I have got to do something here.
I’m a heavy smoker and I never thought,
you know, I’ve heard different people saying
that the smoking cessation classes are fantastic
and I says well I’ll give it a try
and it really is, it makes a big difference.
Well for me as a female I’ve lost 23 pounds in weight
I feel great my health is so much better.
Made a big change to my life.
You know we got to go to Counter Weight from that meeting
and they’ve helped us or helped myself to change the way I look at food.
And the support which I needed helped me in many different ways
than just a health check with the other medical problems
which I’ve had - and which I’m awfully grateful for.
I think if there’s someone out there that’s undecided
I would say its very simple. It took a couple of minutes,
it’s not painful - and if like me you go
and you get something out of it, which I think most people
even if its just my readings normal or there’s something
that you need to do to change.
I mean if there’s a risk of heart disease at all
and there’s something you can do to change it.
I mean what’s 5 minutes out of your life.
Oh go for it!
Go along the people are so helpful,
they’re not judging you they’re supporting you
and they’re not asking you to make huge changes.
Everything they ask you and advise you is a small step
to help you along the way.