People living in South Tyneside can now get special help to choose a healthier lifestyle.

The Choosing Health team - made up of six health and lifestyle advisors and six community health officers - is designing lifestyle programmes for individuals and organising community activities and groups.

The team is part of a Choosing Health programme created to address health inequalities in South Tyneside and assist at risk groups and individuals to choose a healthier lifestyle by individually tailored advice and support.

The scheme was drawn up as a result of information collected during public consultations in South Tyneside last year. Around 3,500 people took part to let the Primary Care Trust (PCT) know what they thought about the area's health problems.

Now the programme is up and running and available to everyone living in the area. It is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

The team's six South Tyneside PCT health and lifestyle advisors provide programmes to meet individual needs with advice on nutrition, how to stop smoking, weight management, and exercise options. The team also offers regular health check-ups and support.

The six South Tyneside Council community health officers are establishing community activities, helping to establish and maintain community groups and drawing up local health profiles to identify the health needs of particular areas.

Members of the team are all based in the community at various venues, including community centres, libraries and pharmacies.

An appointment will then be made for an individual consultation with a health and lifestyle advisor. This will involve a mini health check-up, including weight, height and blood pressure, and completing a health questionnaire to identify your needs. The health and lifestyle advisor will then devise an individual programme of activities - for example, weight management groups or walking groups, to suit you and review your progress regularly.

Choosing Health was a major public consultation carried out in 2004. Around 3,500 local people took part. We had responses from service users, the community and voluntary sectors (including the Black and Minority Ethnic Groups), South Tyneside Council's Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee and NHS staff members.

There were three major concerns:

• The harmful effects of second hand smoke
• The growing problem of obesity
• The need to improve levels of physical activity

People also talked about:

• the decline of traditional major industries and economic conditions and the large impact this had on the health of local communities.
• how increased employment and income levels can bring benefits for health
• the need for better health information including availability, language and format
• protection for vulnerable groups like children and those on low income, particularly with regard to controls on the use of tobacco action needed on smoking and increasing opportunities for people to engage in physical activity and eat a healthier diet

As a result of all this, we set up the Choosing Health Team to give practical support to people in South Tyneside who want to improve their own health.