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The bigger picture – come and join us
We hope you’ve enjoyed ‘meeting’ the first people who have shared their stories – their personal journeys with ‘take 9 lives, at least…’. And we’re sure you’ll have a view for, against or …? May be in your own individual way something within these life stories might trigger you to want to take small steps to change your own life – or may be you already have, or may be …?
On the health and wellbeing front alone we seem to have become a society that thinks that ‘pills’ (all medicine actually) are the answer to everything, and that a visit to the doctor is somehow short-changed without ‘a pill’ to come away with. And, certainly, this view, that ‘pills’ are the fuel we need to run our lives, is underpinned by the pharmaceutical companies which all too often rule the roost of the medical profession. Of course, it goes without saying that medicine does have its awesome place, but for the hard-pressed doctors within the NHS (and we all know about the state of the NHS) struggling against time and money, ‘a pill’ probably seems to keep most people happy most of the time rather than the suggestion that we make some personal effort to help ourselves – and that prevention can often be better than cure.
Why we often seem to look outside ourselves for help – for that quick fix, perhaps, when often there is so much to be gained from employing our own resources. The reality is that every individual has the inherent wisdom to know what’s best for them and to have a partnership with the medical profession, rocket science it is not.
But there are signs now in many parts of the country that education and social prescription and just persuading people to play a proactive and preventative part in their lives (it’s that personal responsibility ‘thing’ again), seems to be raising its head with increasing frequency these days. And, actually, if anyone stopped to listen, the NHS Constitution has been going on about all this for some time – and these are just a few of their words:
Patients and the Public – your responsibilities.
The NHS belongs to all of us. There are things we can all do for ourselves. Please recognise that you can make a significant contribution to your own and your family’s good health and wellbeing and take personal responsibility for it ….
Now you’ve met the first of the ‘take 9 lives, at least…’ gang, listened to the issues that have shaped their lives – the difficulties of childhood, a life-long ‘battle of the bulge’ that led almost inevitably to later Type 2 Diabetes, the life sentence of Type 1 Diabetes, cancer, heart problems and arthritis – all epidemics of our time and the completely diverse ways that each individual has dealt with these issues where often there are no rights and wrongs – and certainly there are no handbooks and it just all comes under the generic heading of lives lived. And each person has shared the contacts and resources that they have found helpful and supportive.
So, now, in the hopes that at some point these stories have interested or touched you – or someone you know, come and join us, share your own experience, contacts and resources to help others; people are always stronger together and only good can come of this.
Please complete the form above and either Myni or Bob will get back to you as soon as they can.
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. This website is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Content should not be considered a substitute for professional medical expertise or treatment. The reader assumes full responsibility for consulting a qualified health professional regarding health conditions or concerns and before starting a new diet or health program.