Healthcare professional
Up!Up! Living lighter the African and Caribbean way! is a group-based healthy living and weight loss programme. It is culturally tailored for adults of African and Caribbean heritage. It helps and motivates people to achieve diet and lifestyle goals through behaviour change support.
Up!Up! was developed to address inequalities in weight management programme attendance and outcomes among black African and Caribbean adults and to be sensitive to the needs of service providers, as well as of people needing weight loss support.
Up!Up! uses evidence-based weight management guidelines for diet and lifestyle management and is underpinned by robust behaviour change theory.
When developed, co-design methods were used to identify the optimal structure, format and methods of delivery; and to determine appropriate adaptations to ensure its content is culturally sensitive. Up!Up! continues to be developed in partnership with people of African and Caribbean heritage.
Up!Up! aims to provide information and support to help individuals be confident and help them on their journey towards health. It includes learning to give the body the right fuel, being active and making sure the body is in the right shape to support health.
- There are 12 sessions over 12 weeks.
- Each session is one hour.
- Each session covers a different topic, for example in one session the focus is on starchy foods and in another the focus is on blood pressure.
- The course brings together a small group of people of African or Caribbean heritage so they can share experiences and learn from one another, as well as receiving advice from specialist health trainers.
- Over the 12 sessions everything people need to know is covered in detail and there are lots of opportunities to ask questions so that participants feel really confident in the advice.
- The sessions also include physical activity classes to give participants a chance to try out lots of different types of activity and understand the sorts of activities that can be done to improve health. The classes are designed to suit ALL ABILITIES, including people with disabilities or mobility issues e.g. chair-based exercises.
Why is Up!Up! different?
Up!Up! has been designed in partnership with people of African and Caribbean heritage, healthcare professionals and community leaders. The course focuses on advice about relevant cultural foods and important aspects of health.
How do I refer?
Currently, Up!Up! is available only to residents or people working in the Borough of Lewisham, south London.
If you are not in south London please get in touch with us here.
Referrals to Up!Up! are through Primary Care referral form within DXS, EMIS or Vision or contact the admin team on 020 7188 2010 (option 1).
Patients can also self-refer for a course by phoning 020 7188 2010 (option 1) or emailing gst-tr.up.up@nhs.net.
There are helpful resources on this website that you could signpost people to:
Eat well
Over the years, many food traditions have been lost. We’ve been adding extra salt, extra fat and extra carbohydrates to our diet. Eating like our ancestors is a sure way to improve our health. Living Lighter is about adopting simple, good habits that will help us do just that.
Keeping Active
Diabetes is not part of our heritage. Neither is heart disease. What is in our heritage is a healthy heart, a strong body, vibrant and delicious foods, and a long, healthy life. You have the power to claim all of this through Living Lighter, the African and Caribbean way!
How to get on the course:
You can get on the course by referring yourself or getting a healthcare professional to refer you. Firstly, find a location of a course near you and choose how you would like to be referred.