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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UK launches fund to support people with health conditions return to work
The UK Government has launched the WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund, a pilot programme designed to assist individuals with health conditions return to work while simultaneously easing the workload on general practitioners (GPs). With £1.5m ($2.01m) in financial support, the initiative is set to benefit 15 regions. This approach tackles an issue where, out of the 11 million electronic fit notes issued in primary care across England last year, 93% indicated that individuals were 'not fit for work', without providing any alternative support. Funded by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), WorkWell sites will bridge this gap by connecting patients to local services that offer work and health advice. The investment will enable the hiring of professionals within GP practices. Additionally, the programme will focus on enhancing the skills of occupational therapists and physiotherapists. UK Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: 'Every person we help back into work isn't just transforming their own life - they're contributing to our communities, our economy and breaking the cycle that's been holding Britain back.' The initiative is exploring alternative methods to reduce the administrative burden on GPs. With 90% of fit notes being issued by doctors, the new funding will investigate how other healthcare professionals can contribute to a more supportive system for both patients and employers. The WorkWell Primary Care Innovation Fund aligns with the government's ten-year Health Plan. The government has also made strides in increasing the number of GPs, with recruitment initiatives. As part of a broader effort to reduce waiting lists and improve healthcare accessibility, the government has deployed specialist clinical teams and opened new community diagnostic centres operating seven days a week. This initiative complements a £100m investment in Connect to Work programmes. Evidence from the WorkWell pilot will inform a wider strategy on work, health, and skills, as part of the government's Plan for Change. Each of the 15 WorkWell pilot sites will receive a share of the £1.5m fund, amounting to £100,000 per site, to support up to 56,000 individuals by early 2026. "UK launches fund to support people with health conditions return to work" was originally created and published by Hospital Management, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Washington Post
37 minutes ago
- Washington Post
New framework would classify many more U.S. adults as ‘obese'
Nearly a fifth of U.S. adults previously deemed 'overweight' would be categorized as 'obese' under a 2024 obesity classification framework, according to a new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine. Using the recent obesity framework, 18.8 percent of the adults who had previously been categorized as 'overweight' now fit under the 'obese' category, researchers said.
Yahoo
an hour ago
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Northwestern Medicine launches program for patients with obesity concerns who are planning a pregnancy
CHICAGO — Northwestern Medicine has launched a program to help patients who have concerns related to obesity and are planning a pregnancy. Women with higher levels of body fat sometimes struggle to conceive and can face greater health risks during pregnancy. The PEARL program, which stands for Preconception and Early Assessment Care Rooted in Lifestyle Management, aims to help these patients have safe and healthy pregnancies. Dr. Christina Boots, a reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist and one of the clinicians in the program, estimates that about one-third of her infertility patients struggle with obesity. 'There's many more beyond that, who maybe don't meet the criteria for obesity, but are struggling with overweight or insulin resistance and prediabetes or any other metabolic health dysfunction that could be optimized before we go forward,' she said. The PEARL program is designed to help patients with weight-driven concerns about any stage of pregnancy, from infertility to potential complications during delivery. It's open to patients with a BMI, or body mass index, above 27. BMI is calculated from a person's height-to-weight ratio that can give a quick estimate of total body fat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the average American woman's height to be 5 feet, 3.5 inches; at this height, a patient would have to weigh 157 pounds or more to qualify for the PEARL clinic. 'There's so much weight bias and stigma that goes into weight, and there's a lot of stigma and bias and blame that goes into infertility as well,' Boots said. 'We just thought we could do a better job than what we were in terms of counseling women.' Boots said she and other physicians in the program have been unofficially working with patients on obesity concerns related to pregnancy for a few years. By making it an official program within Northwestern Medicine, clinicians are able to dedicate time to see these patients alongside their usual caseloads. 'We're just making sure that we're blocking out time so that there's always an opportunity for women to get in.' The program currently has four clinicians. Boots addresses how a higher BMI may affect fertility. Dr. Veronica Johnson, an internal medicine practitioner with a specialty in obesity medicine, primarily focuses on preconception weight loss. Drs. Jacqueline Hairston and Michelle Kominiarek, as the two maternal-fetal medicine specialists, address patients who are close to becoming or are already pregnant. Some patients are aiming to lower their BMIs in order to increase their fertility; others are aiming to manage BMI-related issues such as cholesterol, blood pressure and blood glucose to decrease risk before, during, or after pregnancy. 'The whole purpose of this is to address their concerns, and not to say, 'Hey, you need to lose a bunch of weight,'' Boots said. 'All the women in the program believe that there can be health at every size, and none of us believe that you must lose weight in order to get pregnant or to have a healthy pregnancy at all.' One of Johnson's patients, who declined to share her name because of the personal nature of her treatment, came to the clinic through an internal referral from her Northwestern OB-GYN. 'I knew that, even more than having a child, I wanted to be healthy, and I knew that I was at a weight that was completely unhealthy,' she said. 'I was at my largest weight that I had ever been in my life, and I knew I needed to do something about it.' Johnson's patient knew that she would likely have to go through in vitro fertilization because of her family history. IVF programs often have a maximum BMI limit around 40 or 50 — that's between 230 and 290 pounds at 5 feet 3.5 inches. When the patient first met with Johnson, her BMI was 58; with PEARL's help, she's reduced her BMI to 48 in less than a year. She began IVF in October, and is about to start her fourth cycle. 'It's mainly from an anesthesia perspective that that BMI threshold is there. It's not anything other than that, which is unfortunate, because we're trying to stay away from BMI, but then we're telling patients that you can't proceed with this procedure because your BMI is too high,' Johnson said. Egg retrieval for IVF is often done under 'twilight' anesthesia, where patients are not completely under. Alongside requiring higher dosages of anesthesia, Hairston explained that patients with higher BMIs may already have breathing issues, and in the event of an emergency, the clinic team may not be able to secure their airway. 'I have a couple patients who had a BMI at 55-60, and I've gotten them, over the last year and some change, to lose 70-80 pounds, where their BMI is now less than 50. And they're really excited, and now they're in the place where they're going to proceed with IVF,' Johnson said. While the PEARL program tries to emphasize lifestyle management before pharmaceutical intervention, sometimes using weight loss medication is the right choice. 'A lot of times, when patients come to see me, they're like, 'Well, I know how to eat, I know I should be exercising, and I've tried all those things, and it's really hard for me.' And that's when we need to think about other tools to kind of help them get to a healthier weight,' Johnson said. At the same time, the effects of weight loss medications on pregnancies are still unknown. These medications are expected to be used continuously, Hairston said, but since there is not enough knowledge of how these medications affect a fetus, patients are advised to stop using them at least two months before attempting to get pregnant, and to stop using them immediately if they test positive while on the medication. 'Typically for patients with obesity, the recommended weight gain in pregnancy is 11 to 20 pounds. But you can imagine, some of our patients may have lost more than that as a result of these medications,' Hairston said. When patients stop using many of these medications, there is often rebound weight gain; Hairston said that doctors are still discovering how this factors into pregnancy weight gain. Another concern the program hopes to address is the conflict between weight loss goals and the expected weight gain of pregnancy. Regardless of BMI, some weight gain is important for a safe pregnancy. That number is lower for patients with higher BMIs, but weight loss during pregnancy, especially in the third trimester, can adversely affect the baby. Even for a patient who became pregnant with a BMI between 18.5 and 25, which is considered healthy, expected pregnancy weight gain is likely to push them into the overweight category. 'I really think the goal of this program is to be more inclusive in the care of patients with a higher BMI, so that they don't feel like they are being excluded from the pregnancy conversation. And we're excited to meet anyone who wants to meet with us,' Hairston said.
