Health & Wellbeing

A retired schoolteacher from Solihull has teamed up with Birmingham Conservatoire, as they join the race for the Christmas number one, while highlighting the particular struggles faced by those affected by dementia over the Festive period. Birmingham-born Alan Stott has written big band hit ‘What Are We Gonna Do For Christmas?’ with an arrangement by Birmingham Conservatoire fourth year BMus Jazz student, Josh Tagg. Jazz students from across all years of study also perform on the track.

A school in Stourbridge has purchased a defibrillator to help keep their students and teachers alive and kicking. Ridgewood High School in Wollaston bought a defibrillator after learning about the benefits of the device from a member of their Parent Teacher Association who is a former member of WMAS. After getting advice from the Trust about the defibrillators, the school purchased a life-saving device from Physio Control.

An Alzheimer’s Society investigation into homecare has exposed a vicious cycle of intolerable stress placed on people with dementia, their families and carers. The findings reveal a shocking lack of dementia training has resulted in poor quality homecare that is leaving too many people with the condition spending the day in soiled clothing, or going without food or water. Many also end up in costly hospital or care home admissions when they could have stayed at home, where they want to be, for longer.

Local celebrity mum, Danielle Lloyd has shown her support for Birmingham Children’s Hospital’s festive jumper day on Friday 16 December by pulling on its charity pullover. The annual day, this year known as Star Jumper Day, will raise money for the charity’s £3.65 million Star Appeal to build the UK’s first Rare Diseases Centre for children.

QEHB Charity is once again aiming to bring festive cheer to patients and staff at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham throughout Christmas. Over the festive period approximately 100,000 patients will visit QEHB, meaning the ‘season to be jolly’ will be business as usual at the city’s biggest hospital, but they want to provide chocolate hampers for patients and staff to share, Christmas trees for every floor of the hospital, decorations for the wards, gifts for children and young people with cancer, and free parking and TV for patients and visitors on Christmas Day. But they can’t do it without you!

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the Department of Health (DH) are encouraging organisations in the West Midlands to help make their communities safer as they launch another £1 million partnership to make public access defibrillators and CPR training more widely available across England. In 2015, thanks to the first round of funding from the government, 700 more defibrillators were made available in communities across England1, including 36 in the West Midlands.

Almost 70 per cent of adults in Sandwell are overweight or obese say health bosses, who are keen to get people to sign up to a free health support service. Healthy Sandwell, part of Sandwell Council Public Health, says more than 1,000 people a month use its advice services but wants to help more people lead healthier lives. The team helps residents to quit smoking, lose weight, access NHS Health Check, get active and get the support they need for alcohol and drug related problems.

In just a few weeks’ time men up and down the country will be growing their beards to raise money for Bowel Cancer UK, and it’s not too late to sign up and show your support for the campaign too. Men growing beards in December for Decembeard will be in good company as former England cricketer Chris Read is supporting the campaign too. “My first cricket coach died from bowel cancer and as a consequence my awareness of this disease increased greatly.

The current state of men’s health is in crisis. Too many men are dying too young; on average four years younger than women. For men this isn’t good news. We need to talk about it. We need to act. Movember, the month formerly known as ‘November’, launches its 2016 campaign to Mo Bros and Mo Sistas across the nation, encouraging men and women to sign up and grow a Mo, commit to Move or throw or go to a Movember event to raise funds for men’s health and stop men dying too young.

This October half term, the famous characters of Rudyard Kipling's celebrated classic, The Jungle Book, will come to life as St. James' Court A Taj Hotel, London launch their new “Jungle Book Yoga” class for children. In conjunction with the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces' Kids@Taj programme, this experience celebrates the spirit of English Classics that launched last year with a bespoke 150th Anniversary Limited Edition of Lewis Carroll's iconic classic Alices' Adventures in Wonderland.

The Stay Well This Winter campaign (SWTW) launches today in the West Midlands region and around the country the biggest ever flu vaccination programme in England. This year more than 447,500 children aged 2-7 years in the West Midlands will be offered protection. At risk adults, including those with long-term health conditions, pregnant women and those over 65 will also be offered flu vaccination.

My first cricket coach died from bowel cancer and as a consequence my awareness of this disease increased greatly. He was a wonderful man who, along with his family, became great friends and that’s why I became a patron of Bowel Cancer UK, the UK’s leading bowel cancer research charity. That’s also why I’m encouraging sons, dads, brothers, uncles, nephews and granddads to join together this Decembeard and show their support for the charity.

Panache Lingerie with Sheffield Hallam University and Sheffield NHS Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust are developing a new bra that could revolutionise breast cancer care for women undergoing breast radiotherapy.The bra is designed to enhance the accuracy of treatment, and should improve patient comfort and help women going through radiotherapy maintain dignity during their treatment.  

With flu season fast approaching, Birmingham health chiefs are urging people at risk across the city to think ahead and book their flu jabs now. Flu is a highly contagious infection and, while healthy individuals usually recover within two to seven days, for some the disease can lead to hospitalisation, permanent disability or even death.

This Black History Month X Factor winner Alexandra Burke and entrepreneur Levi Roots are backing Diabetes UK’s call to get more people involved in raising awareness of the signs and risks of Type 2 diabetes through the charity’s Community Champions programme. Derrick ‘Mr Motivator’ Evans, gospel singer Annastasia Baker, DJ Eddie Nestor, TV personality Rustie Lee and celebrity personal trainer Steve Agyei are also urging people to sign up who are passionate about tackling Type 2 diabetes in their communities.

A pharmacy graduate is pulling no punches when he steps into the ring to raise money for Cancer Research UK.  Baldev Danny Singh, 27 from Telford, studied for a Masters Degree in Pharmacy at the University of Wolverhampton and is currently in training to take part in an Ultra White Collar Boxing (UWCB) Match at Wolverhampton Civic Hall on Saturday 1^st October. White Collar Boxing originated in New York in 1988.