September 2020
Price: £95 PLUS VAT
Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
***Full-scale policy conference taking place online***
This conference focuses on next steps for healthy weight management in England, bringing together key stakeholders and policymakers.
The discussion at a glance:
- the Government’s overall approach - its policy drive aimed at countering obesity:
- what it means for stakeholders
- the potential impact on public health
- the Tackling obesity strategy - which sets out plans and actions including:
- the Better Health campaign - launched by PHE, which includes access to resources such as the free NHS 12-week weight loss plan app, as well as new advertising and partnerships
- support - expansion of healthy weight management services available through the NHS, building on commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan
- regulation and public information - encouraging healthier food choices and restriction of HFSS promotions, and banning their advertisement before 9pm on TV and online
- training - developing staff to become healthy weight coaches, which primary care networks will be able to access through PHE
- access - increasing the availability to specialist support, with GPs being incentivised to refer patients through the Quality and Outcomes Framework
- COVID-19:
- impact - how the pandemic has affected healthy weight management:
- changing habits - reports showing an increase in comfort eating and weight gain during lockdown
- added risks - evidence that obesity is a key factor underlying more severe COVID-19 symptoms in individuals
- what can be learned - the pressures encountered and the way support services have adapted, and options for future clinical and organisational practice:
- awareness - capturing the public mood, with the health risks posed by obesity more front-of-mind
- public information - future policy, practice and public health messaging
- extra support - what might be required for those receiving and delivering services in the wake of the pandemic
The discussion in detail:
- primary care:
- patient engagement - increasing effectiveness and identifying those most at risk
- specialist referrals - their use of as part of the obesity strategy
- personalised care - and next steps in the delivery of lifestyle management support, including remotely
- training - developing staff to become healthy weight coaches, and ensuring the confidence of primary care staff in raising healthy weight discussions with patients and providing advice
- integration across local health systems - resource sharing, addressing variation of care in local areas, and utilising population health methods
- childhood weight - developing online resources and strategies for local authorities, schools, community services and the third sector to support children and their households
- public information:
- weight management and obesity messaging - PHE’s recommendations and the way forward for implementation, including how to maximise the reach of the Better Health Campaign
- learning from past public health campaigns - how they can inform messages on weight management and obesity, as the Strategy looks to learn lessons from tackling smoking
- innovation - accessibility and usability of resources for patients, maintaining access to support during the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and ensuring patient safety and data security
- the weight loss and food and drink industries:
- their role - in supporting safe management of healthy weight and encouraging healthy eating and lifestyle options
- engagement - what will be needed to secure their effective involvement with the new campaigns and policy initiatives, as they look to overcome sectoral challenges resulting from COVID-19
- sector initiatives - the wider role that industry can play in supporting the government strategy and helping create an environment that encourages healthy choices
- the NHS Health Check review:
- uptake - how can it be increased, and developing more personalised interventions from the service
- prevention - ensuring the effectiveness of the Health Check’s role in early identification of those needing guidance
- health inequalities
- policy options - next steps for improving access to weight management support in deprived areas and across society
- affordability - with findings from Demos that as many as 20m people struggle with access or the cost of healthy food, leading to calls for government subsidies
- population health - developing methods to help prevent people from falling through the net
Further developments that are relevant to the discussion:
- the National Food Strategy - with the recently published Part One:
- the country’s eating habits - and how these can be improved
- recommendations - and supporting the actions within the new government strategy
- Part Two - expected in 2021 which will include the systemic interventions needed in the food system
- Hungry for Change: fixing the failures in food - the report from the House of Lords Committee on Food, Poverty, Health and the Environment:
- calling for government to ensure healthy and sustainable diets are available to all
- recommendations on food insecurity, the benefits system, HFSS food restrictions, funding and support for disadvantaged children, and oversight of a national food strategy
- Eat Out to Help Out - warnings that the Government’s scheme - which includes several fast food chains - risks undermining the new obesity strategy
- Time to solve childhood obesity - Professor Dame Sally Davies’s report citing the importance of advice by health professionals to families around weight in obesity prevention
- Public Health England findings and plans:
- National child measurement programme (NCMP): trends in child BMI - highlighting health inequalities with rising childhood obesity found to be most prevalent in deprived areas
- PHE Strategy 2020 to 2025 - prioritising healthier weight and diets
- COVID-19: understanding the impact on BAME communities - on the importance of obesity and diabetes as risk factors and calling action to tackle circumstances leading to health inequalities
- the Marmot Review 10 Years On - citing widening health inequalities and the geographical variance
- support and oversight - calls improvements in advice, access and delivery of evidence-based weight loss support and establishment of a new independent food watchdog to oversee these measures
- the NHS Healthier You Diabetes Prevention Programme - those at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes to be fast-tracked onto this online tool designed to support individuals with weight loss
- NHS ‘Soup and shake’ diet plan - recently introduced by Government across ten regions to tackle the rise of Type 2 diabetes, following successful trials
- The Health of the Nation: A Strategy for Healthier Longer Lives report - from the APPG for Longevity calling for a drive to prevent conditions associated with obesity in supporting longer healthy life
The agenda:
- Delivering goals within the context of healthy weight management policy
- Assessing the effectiveness of interventions to tackle childhood obesity
- Improving interventions and quality of advice in primary care settings
- Provision of personalised, accessible and quality advice to patients
- Healthcare workforce education and training
- Integrating healthy weight management across local health systems
- Lessons in changing behaviour from effective public health campaigns
- Supporting access to healthy weight guidance for children and families
- A case study from Leeds - strategies for school children to achieve a healthy weight in Leeds
- Innovation and support for service users - technology access and usability, safety and data protection, and the roles of industry, local community services and employers in improving population health
Policy officials attending:
Our forums are known for attracting strong interest from policymakers and stakeholders.
It’s certainly the case with this one. Places have been reserved by officials from DHSC; Defra; Food Standards Agency; MHCLG; HM Treasury; HM Revenue & Customs and the National Audit Office.
This is a full-scale conference taking place online***
- full, four-hour programme including comfort breaks - you’ll also get a full recording to refer back to
- information-rich discussion involving key policymakers and stakeholders
- conference materials provided in advance, including speaker biographies
- speakers presenting via webcam, accompanied by slides if they wish, using the Cisco WebEx professional online conference platform (easy for delegates - we’ll provide full details)
- opportunities for live delegate questions and comments with all speakers
- a recording of the addresses, all slides cleared by speakers, and further materials, is made available to all delegates afterwards as a permanent record of the proceedings
- delegates are able to add their own written comments and articles following the conference, to be distributed to all attendees and more widely
- networking too - there will be opportunities for delegates to e-meet and interact - we’ll tell you how!
Full information and guidance on how to take part will be sent to delegates before the conference
