Adult Weight Management

As part of the national obesity strategy, all local authorities are obligated to provide weight management services to their residents. Dorset Council uses ‘LiveWell Dorset’ as the front door to these services – with a specific pathway for those wishing to access weight loss support. As it stands, residents contact LiveWell to initiate a discussion with an advisor, who will assess their need and eligibility for funded assistance. Alongside the in-house coaching offer, clients are offered 12-week ‘kick start’ vouchers to the commissioned weight management service. The intention is that this initial period will encourage the formation of healthy habits and better understanding of healthy weight maintenance. Alongside our obligation to provide these services, there is a clear need for our residents with around 63% of over-18’s being medically categorised as overweight or obese. Not only does this have negative consequences for the health and wellbeing of the individual, but also causes significant negative impact on the wider NHS system. Obesity is a direct cause of several common health conditions, such as Type-II diabetes, heart disease, and certain cancers – and can be a contributing factor in many more. Ensuring we have effective service provision at Tier 2 of the weight management strategy also helps to protect the limited resources available at Tier 3, which provides more intensive specialist support to patients. The current contracts are due to expire 31.3.23 and need to be reprocured.