Get Healthy at UWS
If you’re finding it hard to kick-start a healthy lifestyle or lack the motivation to maintain it, the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service could be just what you need.
The Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service is a free information and health coaching service developed by the NSW Government. In partnership with Population Health, UWS is promoting the program to staff for the second year. As part of the program, you can choose to receive Get Healthy information, participate in coaching – or both!
Last year, some UWS staff and students who joined the program showed great results. Jennylee Green, from Student Support Services, joined the program to gain motivation to continue maintaining and improving her health and fitness levels.
“The program helped me to identify my personal challenges, such as emotional eating habits and disinterest in exercise, as well as identifying barriers that were obstructing me from reaching my goals, developing strategies to overcome my challenges and creating realistic goals,” says Jennylee.
Jennylee signed up for the coaching service and received 10 free individually tailored telephone coaching sessions that she could use over a six-month period. The health coach assists with developing health goals, creating action plans, maintaining motivation, identifying problem areas and creating solutions for a successful lifestyle change.
Jennylee says that her health coach was always very interested and enthusiastic about her progress. “I enjoyed talking with my coach regularly,” says Jennylee. “It helped that she took me through reviews of the goals I had set in previous conversations to keep on track. If I hadn’t done as well as I had liked, she was always encouraging and very quick to point out all the positives that I had achieved. I never felt rushed during our conversations – she was very engaged in all the things that were impacting my lifestyle and she often helped me come up with creative ideas to help overcome barriers and weaknesses. After a call I always felt re-energised about reaching my goals.”
With today’s busy modern lifestyle in mind, the Get Healthy program aims to be as convenient as possible for its users. “My coach was able to phone me at a very suitable time,” says Jennylee. “Because of my work hours, evening calls were pre-arranged.”
When Jennylee completed the Get Healthy sessions, she was motivated to continue on the path to reach her goals and had developed strategies to overcome bad habits. “These have been successful,” she says. “I am able to work out ways to motivate myself more, which I can use when I feel disinterested in exercising or when I’m tempted to make choices that prevent me from reaching my goals.”
Jennylee says she recommends this program to anyone who wants to use a professional service. “You’re sure to gain something,” she says. “You may gain an understanding of what motivates you to get healthy and learn to use strategies that work for you as an individual. This can only lead to positive habits.”
If you would like to join the Get Healthy Information and Coaching Service or would like more information, please visit the Get Healthy @ UWS webpage (opens in a new window).
