Dr Haque and I were invited to see this amazing piece of community based work. Combining both the healthy lifestyle and self management appraoches that are quite popular in Tower Hamlets, the scheme has got heart bypass patients up and running and visiting the gym on a regular basis.
When Rasheda the Health Advocate invited us along, I was expecting the usual meet and greet and we’ll put it in writing scenario. But, what I saw there was something that works and people are prepared to put time and effort in to it. Winning the NHS ‘Innovative projects’ Award also helps!
We entered the session while everyone had there pulse, blood pressure and blood glucose level checked. While the nurses did their administration and pressure checks, the gentlemen took care of their own blood glucose levels and had them recorded.
The Cardiac Rehab team provide a unique after care program for people with heart bypass operations and get them back on the road to fitness. The group comprised of ten Bangladeshi men of ages between 40 to 70 years. Most of these men had diabetes prior to and after the bypass operations. I was surprised at how young some of the men were who had bypass operations as well as managing diabetes.
As this was a ‘phase 3′ group the patients had to be supervised. Two Nurses and an Advocate from Cardiac Rehab and a Fitness Instructor from Healthy Lifestyles (possibly funded by the Local Area Partnership, PCT and GLA) were on hand.
After talking Rasheda I found out that ‘phase 3′ becomes ‘phase 4′ and patients start using the main gym along with everyone else.
The sessions are good fun and judging by the enthusiasm of the eldest patient there, (who was also the fittest!) moving along to some old Bengali classic tunes and leading a healthy life, the scheme is a success!
The Bangladeshi Stop Tobacco Project has been asked to run a few sessions with the tobacco chewers that attend. And I think it will develop in to an interesting partnership.
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