Devon Wellbeing Hub Testimonial – Embrace Your Plate course

Posted by Devon Partnership Trust in News, Recovery and wellbeing on 13th February, 2024

We spoke to a healthcare colleague about her experience of ‘Embrace Your Plate’ – a healthy eating perspectives course led by Olivia Palmer, an accredited Nutritionist and Trainee Health Psychologist from the Devon Wellbeing Hub.

The eight-week course supports individuals, in a group setting, to explore their relationship with food. It focuses on the reasons why we eat the way we do; including physical, social and psychological reasons.

Why did you contact the Devon Wellbeing Hub? What made you reach out for help?

I got in touch to see if I could get any support for managing my weight and diet, which I felt were impacting both my mental and physical health.

What was your experience of the course?

Olivia and I had a very personable chat about my situation. I had virtual meetings every two weeks, over an eight week block, looking at goal setting and analysing my behaviours and choices. We discussed food groups, balanced meals, snacks and recipes. We then identified my values and the behaviours I wanted to adopt or focus on to align to these values and set goals accordingly.

Have you been able to make changes to improve your wellbeing since visiting the Hub? 

Yes, the guidance has been life-changing.

What do you think the impact would have been without the support from the Hub?

I think my physical and mental health would have remained under threat, which would likely have impacted on my attendance at work and certainly my enjoyment of life in general.

Would you recommend this service to colleagues?

I would and I do. I have referred a lot of my colleagues to the Hub for a huge range of issues and the support has always been really well received and helped a lot.

What advice would you give to people who may be struggling?

To link in with the Hub to see what support they can offer you. Personally, I appreciated that the issues don't need to be directly work-related, but instead may be impacting you as an individual.

Any other comments?

Before receiving individual support, I also attended a team session post-COVID, when the service I work in was under huge pressure from growing waiting lists. Morale was low, colleagues were burning out and everything was really tough. I attended a session with our teams and then suggested we run one for the leads and managers. Both looked at wellbeing and taught us terms to define how we were feeling. The sessions also allowed us to get to know each other better. The facilitator pitched it perfectly. We particularly liked the manifesto about what a good team environment would look like and it made us proud that we are already a good place to work.

I want to say a huge thank you for to the Hub for all of their support to me individually, but also to my colleagues I have referred in, and to our team as a whole. It has really made a difference to us.

Olivia said: “In a world where we often feel pressure to look and feel a certain way, it is a privilege to support people to start taking a more compassionate approach to themselves and the way they approach food and eating.

“I’m delighted to hear how the course has helped. We will be running another Embrace Your Plate course in the near future. To register your interest, please email olivia.palmer1@nhs.net.”

Get in touch

If you work in healthcare, social care or the police in Devon and would like free, confidential wellbeing support, please get in touch by calling 0300 303 5455, email dpt.devonwellbeing@nhs.net, or fill out the simple referral form on the Devon Wellbeing Hub website.

If you’ve been supported by the Devon Wellbeing Hub and would like to share your experience, please get in touch with Lauren Batten, Staff Wellbeing Communications and Engagement Coordinator, at lauren.batten1@nhs.net