Managing Existing Conditions

A medical condition can significantly impact on your day to day life and the lives of your loved ones.

Each medical condition is different and comes with its own set of challenges, and the one to one support we offer is very much tailored to you and your needs.

We can provide support and guidance to help you understand more about your condition and how you can manage it

effectively so that you are able to feel more in control and better able to cope.

Supporting NHS active recovery

We have been working closely with Trusts to develop both perioperative/prehab/rehab for a range of conditions and additional specific, targeted interventions as part of active recovery support.

We are supporting some of the ICS aims – core 20+ 5 to deliver at place and in neighbourhoods of lowest super output areas. We will be a key provider in delivering some of the Waiting Well across Newcastle and Northumberland to improve perioperative care for patients with diabetes (improve glucose control, reduce complications and impact on the long-term health of the patient).

We are always exploring ways to work with Universities, Public Health, the NHS and other partnership organisations in the region, to support those with diagnosed conditions.

If you would like to find out more about how we can support you please contact us.

Diabetes Support

We have delivered Pre-operative uncontrolled diabetes reversal before elective and major surgery – Pre-Op DREAMS, with fantastic outcomes. This work recently won an Innovation Award supported by the Academic Science Network.

We offer 1-2-1 support for people with Type 2 Diabetes, supporting you to achieve a healthier lifestyle, looking at Type 2 diabetes in more depth, giving you a better understanding of the condition and how best to manage it.  Throughout the sessions we will be going through different topics in the programme including; understanding your condition, tips and advice on how to plan your diet better, stress management and more. We will support you to set some small, realistic goals each week which will help you to achieve a healthier diet and lifestyle, taking control of your Diabetes.

Please contact us to find out more.

ESCAPE-pain rehabilitation programme

ESCAPE pain stands for Enabling Self-management and Coping with Arthritic Pain using exercise.

ESCAPE-Pain is a free 6-week rehabilitation programme for patients referred via TIMS (Tyneside Integrated Musculoskeletal Services) with long-term knee and/or hip arthritis. The free programme is offered in Newcastle and Gateshead and consists of 2 sessions per week, each session involving 45mins structured exercises and 15mins education with the topic being around improving lifestyle factors.

The ultimate goal of this programme is to help patients with self-management and develop coping strategies to manage their arthritis symptoms. We also offer ESCAPE-Pain programmes for people with Chronic Back Pain for people referred by TIMS.

ESCAPE-Pain people understand their condition, teaches them simple things they can help themselves with, and takes them through a progressive exercise programme so they learn how to cope with pain better.

You can refer yourself to the programme on the Tyneside Integrated Musculoskeletal Service (TIMS) website.

After reading through the information, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on ‘self referral tool’.  TIMS will then be in touch for an assessment, and if you are eligible you will be put onto the next local cohort!

Healthworks deliver ESCAPE pain at the following venues:

• Health Resource Centre, Benwell, NE4 8BE
• East End Pool, Byker, NE6 1AL
• Barmoor Hub, Ryton, NE40 3AG
• Felling Community Centre, Gateshead, NE10 0NF

Details of session days and times will be provided once you are referred.

Find out more about ESCAPE-pain

Research Projects

AAA is a research project in collaboration with Northumbria University and NHS Newcastle trust, it’s a 12-week virtual exercise and behaviour intervention for patients with low grade Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms. The study is designed to assess the feasibility of a home-based multimodal telehealth invention and improve the health and well-being of patients with AAA.

TEXT-PAD is a research project in collaboration with Northumbria University and NHS Newcastle trust, it’s a 12-week virtual exercise and behaviour intervention for patients with Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAT). The study is designed to assess the feasibility of a home-based multimodal telehealth invention and improve the health and well-being of patients with PAD.

Find out more about our Research Work here.

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Find out more about our Staying Steady falls prevention programme and our other Getting Active services including Next Steps and Cardiac Rehabilitation.