Northern Trust encourages positive living

The Northern Health and Social Care Trust is encouraging older people in the Antrim area to take part in new positive living and health and wellbeing programmes which take place one day a week for 12 weeks in Day Care Centres across the Northern Trust area.

The Positive Living Programme provides participants the opportunity to explore and learn skills to enable them to identify and overcome stressors in their lives and enable them to live independently within their own community.

This is achieved through the use of Group approaches which focus on the use of positive thought processes and techniques and the management of stress, improving social, interpersonal and communication skills and the provision of Information, advice and support to engage in new interests, leisure pursuits and social networks within the local community.

The Health and Well-being Programme aims to raise awareness about a range of health and well-being issues. This is achieved by providing information to promote a healthier lifestyle, focusing on various topics such as healthy eating, physical activity, keeping safe, smoking/alcohol, healthy feet, and medication enabling individuals to make informed choices about their health and enable them to live independently within their own community.

Some work needs to be done by the participant between sessions to achieve the maximum benefit from these courses.

Brian Serplus, Head of Residential and Day Care Services for Older People’s Services in the Northern Trust said,

“The programmes have been developed to provide participants with the opportunity to explore and learn skills to identify and overcome stressors in their lives and to promote a healthy lifestyle. The programmes are person centred and on completion most participants will have achieved their individual goals and be enabled to live independently within their own community”.

Some of the individuals who have attended Positive Living or Health and Well Being Programmes have commented:

“The group has given me back my confidence and I am feeling much more able to cope”.

“I used the relaxation tips at night have been able to reduce the use of the sleeping tablets until I now no longer needed them”.

“I gained enough confidence to apply for, be offered and accept a part time job”.

“Attending this course was like being thrown a lifeline. I was sceptical at first but once I started to take on board what they were trying to teach us, I really did begin to think and see things in a different light. My panic attacks have decreased, my mood has lifted and I am learning to deal with my problems in a much more positive way”

If you feel you would benefit from attending either the Positive Living or Health and Wellbeing programme please contact the manager of Antrim Day Centre, Station Road, Antrim on 028 9441 6515

17th January 2014