Healthy Living at Generate Voices

Generate Voices have been discussing health related topics recently, speaking about healthy living in a most recent meeting. 

Members were asked if they could achieve a health goal, what goal would you like to achieve and why? The members have various health goals they would like to achieve including exercising more, swimming, eating more vegetables, “removing unhealthy foods” and losing weight. 

Michelle suggested that your weight can affect your mental health and that eating from smaller plates can reduce your portion sizes. 

The life expediency of people with learning disabilities and autistic people is much lower than that of the general population, this is due to them facing many health inequalities in society. People with learning disabilities do not always have access to accessible information needed to live a healthy lifestyle, some doctors and GPs may not know how to support a patient with a learning disability. 

It’s important for people with learning disabilities to be on the learning disability register so that they can have the support needed from GP’s and hospitals, also, there must be health information in an Easy Read format. Websites such as Generate’s own Easy Health have various health information written in an Easy Read format Easy Health | Home 

People who are on the learning disability register are entitled to annual health checks, Michelle mentioned how some people are ‘under the net’ with services and may not be having annual health checks that they are entitled to. She also discussed the importance of the Easy Health website and mentioned Generate providing health training to GP surgeries where she and other members have co-trained. 

The members discussed why it is important to live healthy lives, “It’s more than about what you eat, it’s also what you drink” said Sean who cut out smoking recently.

Some members like cooking homemade meals as opposed to eating fast food and highlighted the importance of people with learning disabilities to be given chances to cook their own meals. Generate have cooking sessions every Monday where members make homemade meals from scratch. 

Healthy living isn’t just about eating a balanced diet or psychical activity; it’s also about living in a home where it is safe and accessible, looking after your personal hygiene and looking after your mental health.  Our members do various things which are good for their own mental health whether it’s going places, seeing friends, listening to or playing music, meditating or reading spiritual books. 

Generate Voices agreed that it’s important to take care of your own wellbeing even if you need extra support to do so.