HEAL Champions a win for the community

6th of August, 2018

HEAL Champions Program

Melbourne’s north western region experiences higher than average levels of chronic disease within Victoria. This is caused primarily by preventable lifestyle related factors such as inadequate diet and exercise. The HEAL (Healthy Eating and Active Living) Champions Program was developed in partnership with Diabetes Victoria to address this problem.

HEAL Champions provided training to staff and volunteers with influence within the community to help their group understand and embrace healthy eating and active living. A workshop manual was produced to support the four week program. An evaluation revealed that participants enjoyed the program. They also appreciated the encouraging environment that enabled group interaction and knowledge sharing. Issues such as food patterns, physical activity and cultural barriers to participating in exercise were key topics of discussion.

A total of 24 staff and volunteers attended the program from a wide range of locally based community organisations.