Healthy Choices Program

What is the Healthy Choices program?

Healthy Choices is a UniSA research study funded by the Medical Research Futures Fund. It is a free, evidence-based program for South Australians living with or at risk of developing a chronic health condition. The program aims to support and help participants make health and lifestyle choices that helps them manage their condition and live a healthier life, and contribute to research about how people can better manage chronic health conditions.

Am I eligible for the Healthy Choices program?

Healthy Choices is available to adults (18+ years) who have been diagnosed with a chronic health condition or is at risk of developing a chronic health condition.

Chronic conditions include diabetes I or II; respiratory conditions such as asthma or COPD; cardiovascular conditions such as coronary heart disease or peripheral arterial disease; kidney disease; chronic mental health conditions; chronic joint or muscle conditions; chronic pain; and cancer survivors.

Risk factors for chronic health conditions include being overweight (body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above), high blood pressure or high cholesterol requiring medical treatment, pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

People who live in metropolitan or regional areas are eligible for Healthy Choices.

Where is the Healthy Choices program held?

Sessions are available in-person in metropolitan Adelaide at UniSA’s City East campus and Woodville Library. We also offer telehealth appointments online for people in metropolitan or regional areas via video link or over the phone.  

If you live in a regional area, assessments for the program are done over the phone and we ask that you report measures of your height, weight and blood pressure conducted by your GP or local pharmacy. If you live in the Limestone Coast region, we can conduct assessments for the program at the Mt Gambier UniSA campus in partnership with the Australian Teletrial Program.

When can I attend Healthy Choices sessions?

We currently offer sessions on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays between 8.30am and 5.00pm. We encourage you to attend sessions at the same time each week.

How can I get started?

Phone 0421 694 945 to speak to a member of the Healthy Choices team, or email healthychoices@unisa.edu.au.

When can I get started?

After a brief assessment, you will be given a starting date. Some people will start the program straight away, and some people will start after a 12 week wait. Your starting time is randomly allocated which is important to measure the impact of the program. No matter when you start, it will be the same program aimed at helping you to improve your health. It is worth the wait!

What will my first session be like?

You will talk with your health coaches about you and your health, and what changes you want to make. We allocate up to 2 hours for this session to thoroughly understand you and your health goals.

What do I need to bring to the first session?

Ideas about what changes you want to make to improve your health and wellbeing.

What changes can I make with Healthy Choices?

Examples of changes in lifestyle that people have already achieved with Healthy Choices include starting a new exercise class, reducing snacking after dinner, drinking more water, improving sleep habits, increasing walking distance, and similar.

Your health coaches will work with you to decide and achieve your goals during the program.

What will my other sessions be like?

Each of your follow-up sessions will be with the same health coaches. They will work with you to keep you motivated, help you make progress towards your goals, and overcome any barriers along the way. Each session will last up to 1 hour.

Can I bring a friend or relative to the sessions with me?

Yes; friends or relatives can be an important support to keep you motivated and on track with your goals. You are also welcome to attend sessions by yourself.

What will I pay to attend Healthy Choices?

All Healthy Choices sessions are free.

There may be some additional costs to access the sessions that will vary for each person. For example, if you attend sessions in-person, you will need to arrange your own transport such as a car or bus.

How will Healthy Choices benefit me?

Participating in Healthy Choices has a lot of benefits, including:  

• Your Healthy Choices program is tailored to you and what you want to change to improve your health.
• Your dedicated health coaches will keep you motivated and on track to your goals. They will use specialised skills such as motivational interviewing and care navigation to help you learn skills in how to manage your health condition.
• You will have access to resources, activities and information that you can practise in your own time and space.
• After the program has finished, you will have gained the strategies, knowledge and confidence to keep working on your health goals.

Is the Healthy Choices approach based on evidence?

Yes. There is a lot of evidence from previous research that making changes in your lifestyle can improve your health when living with a chronic condition, as well as improve how you feel about yourself and your health. The skills used by the Healthy Choices team during your sessions are also based on evidence and are promoted by respected health agencies including the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Who else benefits from me attending Healthy Choices?

Your involvement in the program will help to train future generations of health professionals.

Your involvement may also benefit other people with chronic conditions. The data collected from your brief interviews before and after the program will help the researchers to understand the impact of this program. What we find from this research will be published and may inform the care of people with chronic conditions within Australia and other countries.

Will my personal information be kept confidential?

Yes. We comply with Australia’s privacy laws and the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research that protects the privacy of people who participate in research. During the program, your information will only be known by your health coaches and the small research team. After you have finished the program, all data will be coded to protect your identity and only the research team will be able to access your personal information. When the results of this research are shared, we will only report the information collected for the whole group of participants (not specific individuals). We will store data securely.

Before starting the Healthy Choices program, we will give you a Participant Information Sheet that explains the research in detail and will gain your consent before collecting any of your health information.

How will my client benefit from attending Healthy Choices?

Healthy Choices is tailored to health and lifestyle choices that your clients want to change, but may lack motivation or strategies to be successful. This can be a change based on your recommendations, or a change they are interested in pursuing.

Examples of changes people have already achieved with Healthy Choices include starting a new exercise class, reducing snacking after dinner, drinking more water, improving sleep habits, increasing walking distance, and similar.

Healthy Choices will help your clients kickstart their health goals. The health coaches have the time and skills to keep your clients motivated and on track to their goals over a 6 to 12-week program. The Healthy Choices program uses specialised skills in motivational interviewing, education, care navigation and social prescription to support your clients to make changes that can benefit their health. 

At the end of the program, they will have the strategies, knowledge, and confidence to keep working towards their health goal independently.

Who can I refer to Healthy Choices?

Healthy Choices is available to adults (18+ years) who have been diagnosed with a chronic health condition or is at risk of developing a chronic health condition.

Chronic conditions include diabetes I or II; respiratory conditions such as asthma or COPD; cardiovascular conditions such as coronary heart disease or peripheral arterial disease; kidney disease; chronic mental health conditions; chronic joint or muscle conditions; chronic pain; and cancer survivors.

Risk factors for chronic health conditions include being overweight (body mass index (BMI) of 25 or above), high blood pressure or high cholesterol requiring medical treatment, pre-diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

How can I refer a client to Healthy Choices?

Send the name of your client and preferred contact detail/s to healthychoices@unisa.edu.au. We will contact them to answer any questions they have and book them in to get started.

Why is UniSA offering a Healthy Choices program?

At UniSA, we’re committed to making an impact. We want to drive innovation through our research to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for the community, and train a more agile and interdisciplinary health workforce for the changing health and wellbeing environment.

Healthy Choices is part of a 5-year research study funded by the Medical Research Futures Fund to understand if a health coaching service provided in partnership with undergraduate health students is a feasible and effective way to improve the health of people with chronic conditions. The design of the Healthy Choices program is informed by the evaluation of two pilot projects previously run by UniSA.

Healthy Choices is a unique collaboration between UniSA, the City of Charles Sturt, The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, The Hospital Research Foundation and the North West Adelaide Health Study.