The Nutrition and Wellbeing project provides one-to-one coaching with menu plans and nutritional advice.
The Nutrition and Wellbeing programme is a project launched by Dimensions, aimed at increasing positive health outcomes for people with learning disabilities and autism. The project was set up to improve the health and wellbeing of people supported by Dimensions and to provide resources and knowledge about nutrition to support workers across the organisation. All volunteers go through a vetting process before undertaking volunteering activities.
Natasha lost over two stone
One of the people who took part in the programme is Natasha, who Dimensions supports in Cardiff. She had gained some weight during lockdown but thanks to a nutrition and exercise plan developed by volunteer, Nazmin, Natasha lost over two stone.
Nazim said: “The plan had three main goals: stay hydrated by drinking two litres of water a day, eat five fruits and vegetables a day, and do 30 minutes of exercise a day. It was really rewarding to see how effective this was for Natasha. She ended up losing more weight than we expected!
“I’m very pleased with the progress Natasha has made. Natasha tells me that she feels better every day as a result of her weight loss. The biggest difference has been the impact on the staff; their knowledge and understanding has increased, and they feel that they can support Natasha and the other people in the house better. That’s a tremendous result.”
Facts for families
Support teams and families can read this family factsheet and think what they can do differently to better support people around healthy living.
What next?
Dimensions has recruited 24 nutrition volunteers (with another 25 in the pipeline) across England and Wales. They will support our teams to help individuals make positive choices around food & drink, and find and develop great resources.
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