Case Study: 24-year-old Female

1. Patient Background
2. Challenge
3. Solution
4. Outcome
5. Testimonial

Patient Background

The case involves a 24-year-old female with learning disabilities who had experienced significant weight gain. Her 50-year-old mother acts as her primary carer and home maker.

Challenge

The patient's mother was taken into hospital unexpectedly and as a result, her father had to take over the domestic duties in the household. Uncomfortable cooking, the house had come to rely on unhealthy takeaways as their primary source of food.

The consequence was the patient's weight became a concern, and the GP made a referral to the practice’s social prescriber to explore weight loss programmes for the individual. Previous utilisation of medication had proved ineffective, causing some adverse affects, and the patient's BMI had risen to 45.

Solution

The social prescriber was immediately able to utilise the Help at Hand App to identify a local weight loss programme that allowed for individuals with a learning disability.

In addition, the Help at Hand app provided a gateway to a wealth of vouchers, recipes and groups, such as Healthy Cornwall and Slimming World, which were all easily accessible to the family,

Alongside this, the social prescriber recognised the social isolation and strain put on the patient’s mother. So, with this in mind, they used the Help at Hand app to find and engage with a local art group. Using the app’s simple search and categorisation functionality, they were quickly able to find the best group for the mother’s needs and interests.

Outcome

The social prescriber is delighted with the impact of the Help at Hand app. The patient and her mother now have access to something tangible and readily accessible to help them going forward. They are even using the app to identify other activities and groups they might find of interest.

They have been pleasantly surprised at just how much local support is available to them, all easily accessed through the app.

Testimonial