The Marjon Health and Wellbeing model delivers person-centred support to encourage healthy lifestyles for all. Self management and education are at the core of our approach.
It is simple, evidence based and easily scaled so that it can be adapted to suit a range of conditions and diseases.
For over 10 years we have run non-medical physical activity based programmes with Sentinel Health Care to help people manage their back pain. This involves encouraging those with back pain to start being more active, as well as wellbeing advice on sleep and nutrition, and education on how pain works in the body.
Students are involved with helping guide patients through various activities such as Nordic walking, using the gym and pool, as well as general strengthening, core exercises, and stretching.
“The behaviour techniques used in Marjon’s approach have motivated and empowered individuals to maintain adherence to exercise and healthy lifestyles within their own circumstances, beyond the duration of the service. In doing so our service reduces both primary and secondary care referrals reducing cost and strain on front line services. This fills a gap within current NHS rehabilitation provision.” Sentinel Health Care
“Four hundred officers have attended since 2018. We have also trained 32 police personal trainers to deliver and apply Marjon approach to health and wellbeing for our workforce. In addition onlibe infographics and posters were shared allowing officers from all over Devon and Cornwall and Dorset to access the expert fitness, dietary, sleep, & wellbeing advice.
The collaboration with Marjon University has produced some startling results allowing our senior management team to better understand what specific wellness support is required for each team. Some of the key findings included 86% of frontline officers were experiencing MSK pain in work; 52% had never had a health check prior to the visit; 93% said the visit improved how supported they feel by the organization.” Devon and Cornwall Police
Moving more and getting active during or after cancer treatment can help prevent or manage some of the side effects. The Move More project encourages groups of cancer patients to get moving again with motivation and support from our staff as well as free access to Marjon's gym and pool for the duration of their programme.
“Marjon have enabled the creation of a service which is unique within Devon and Cornwall NHS provision, for patients diagnosed with cancer. Patients participating in Marjon’s programmes are in a better physical and mental condition than those who have not engaged, patients have reported that their ability to cope with treatment, including recovery from surgery, is improved. Patient benefits are wide ranging and include improved quality of life, social interaction as well as reduced negative effects of treatment and anxiety levels.” The Mustard Tree Macmillan Cancer Centre
Our Cancer Prehab project improves conditioning prior to surgery, producing better results in surgery and helping patients recover more quickly. This work is part of a wider project with Plymouth NHS Trust utilising interval training and support to improve cancer patient fitness and subsequent outcomes of surgery.
Our partnership with Livewell Southwest started in January 2017 with our pilot group helping people with leg ulcers improve their leg health and circulation through seated exercise and nutrition advice. This has since become a full service and spread to six venues across South West Devon.
The long-term conditions project is a new initiative started in June 2019. Again working with Livewell Southwest we deliver a six week programme to help local people who have been recently diagnosed with a long term condition so that they learn how to manage their health more effectively.
“Informed by Marjon’s Research, we developed a new integrated care community service for the management of leg ulcers (our lower limb service). Marjon helped us move the service into a community, non-medical setting and provide the patients with group lifestyle and wellbeing classes that focused on person-centred care. This environment has been especially liberating for our elderly patients who, despite having healed, did not want to leave the service given the high levels of enjoyment. Our routine assessments on the impact of the service, conducted by nurses, indicated 80% accelerated healing rates in people. For the last three years our wellbeing classes have supported over a thousand people each year and people have reported high levels of satisfaction in measures of quality of life and functional capacity.” Livewell Southwest
Marjon Health and Wellbeing and Ernesettle Health Centre are collaborating on a groundbreaking project which could prompt a fundamental rethink in how healthcare is delivered.
Ernesettle Medical Centre has received a grant from the Health Foundation to support the project, which centres on the provision of group sessions, with both a GP and a Health Coach, for patients suffering with persistent pain. The project will investigate whether shared medical appointments, that bring together medical and non-medical aspects of pain management, in tandem with group discussions, can give patients using opioid medication to manage chronic pain more control over their condition.
We are also running a GP referral exercise programme in a gym on-site at the medical centre at Ernesettle.
"The current medical model of primary care typically only provides GPs ten minutes to dedicate to their patients. Our Shared Medical Appointments model, based on Marjon’s research approach, supported an inclusive 2-hour session that enabled continuity for care for patients beyond their condition.
Marjon’s expertise enabled us to design relevant and appropriate outcome measures which showed a reduction in one-to-one GP appointments, reduced use of other healthcare services such as out-of-hours GP service, reduction in medication queries, reduced use of pain medication and enhanced satisfaction for those receiving and delivering care.” Evalesco Consulting.
Due to start in 2019, we will be providing a falls prevention programme for NHS Devon in rural areas surrounding Plymouth with our staff qualified as postural stability instructors.
“The reach and impact of the Marjon Health and Wellbeing approach has extended to all of our depots in Devon and Cornwall with increased morale, reduced sickness absence and improved productivity of our staff. It has gained interest from National Directors and has potential to be adopted by the Environment Agency Nationwide.
The attendance at the programme provides a mini community where the staff now are encouraged to reflect on their behaviours, experiment with some content they are prescribed, and share their progress and experiences with staff and peers alike. It is by nature a person centred, holistic approach that can also flex to each participants needs.” The Environment Agency