COURSE INFORMATION

This education unit aims to help primary health care professionals (e.g. practice nurses, midwives, health visitors, community nurses and occupational health nurses) contribute to the effective management of adult obesity in their areas of practice.

Stage 1 distance learning, includes the prevalence, causes and costs of obesity, Government initiatives to tackle obesity, methods of assessing obese adults and key issues to consider when weight control interventions are selected. It requires about 10 hours of study. Stage 2 is a shared learning session focusing on further development of participants' knowledge of obesity as a complex disorder, different approaches to organising and delivering services for adults who are obese and key principles that should guide the care and support of adults who are obese. Stage 2 lasts two hours and there is a follow-up activity which takes about two hours. Stage 3 focuses on gaining insight into obesity from the perspectives of people who are obese, developing skills in using food diaries, exploring commercial weight control programmes, developing further knowledge of pharmacological interventions available to help people who are obese, and consideration of how participants can use this education unit to improve the support and care offered in their clinical areas to adults who are obese. Stage 3 requires about 80 hours of study involving on-line learning activities and a formal assessment at the end. The assessment comprises a practice-based written assignment, 2000 words in length.

Participants can choose to work through Stage 1 and/or Stage 2 only and use the study hours for the purposes of PREP. They can also opt to complete all three stages, in which case the study hours they accumulate will far exceed the minimum PREP(CPD) requirement of 35 hours in three years.

Successful completion of the whole education unit means you will be awarded 15 credits at level 2. Credits can be submitted to the University of Greenwich for advanced standing towards one of its awards, or to any other higher education institution that recognises such credits.

The credits gained for successful completion of this Masterclass plus unit are higher education credits that can be used towards a diploma or degree.

COURSE TUTOR

Jane Deville-Almond BA(Hons) RGN, RM, HV Jane is an independent nurse consultant and freelance journalist. She also works as a practice nurse in Walsall. For the past year she has voluntarily run a surgery for men in the back of a busy barber's shop in Wolverhampton, a role that also involves running a weight management clinic. She is an executive member of the National Obesity Forum and vice president of the Men's Health Forum. Jane has participated in many conferences and teaches health issues at local universities. Her work in the area of men's health and obesity has often attracted media interest and she has taken part in TV programmes, given many radio interviews and had many papers published.