ABL Health to deliver Healthy Lives for Gloucester

Gloucestershire County Council has appointed ABL Health to deliver its Healthy Lifestyles service.

ABL, a community-based, behaviour change organisation, secured the £1.13 million contract to run the service for an initial five years, with the option to extend it for up to a further four years. As part of the contract, ABL will offer one-to-one coaching support to help people make a lifestyle change, such as increasing their physical activity levels, reducing alcohol, stopping smoking or managing their weight.

Since the Healthy Lifestyles service was first put in place in 2017, there has been an increase in weight management support available in the county, including the NHS Digital Weight Management offer. As a result, the service will change its weight management offer from a referral to Slimming World to focus on bespoke, targeted help for those people who face the greatest challenges in managing their weight. Gloucester’s Healthy Lifestyles service for adults is provided in addition to a £3.6 million healthier lifestyles service for children and families who want support to manage their weight, run by BeeZee Bodies.

Councillor Mark Hawthorne, leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: “The major causes of early death are all linked to lifestyle factors such as smoking, too much alcohol, poor diet and not being active enough. A change in lifestyle can not only help people live longer, but to remain independent and in good health as they age.”

Holly McEneaney, Chief Operating Officer at ABL Health, said: “We believe in the power of making health in the community a priority and recognise that many people have barriers to achieving a healthy lifestyle.

“Our integrated wellbeing service will support the people of Gloucestershire to lose weight, get more active, drink less alcohol and stop smoking, as well as offering support to pregnant women to make lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet.”