It has been recently reported in the news that the NHS has been banding around a £’s for pounds scheme, which rewards those who manage to successfully lose weight with cash incentives (a similar scheme has also used the same incentive to encourage smokers to quit).
The NHS scheme offering cash rewards for losing weight has already helped more than 100 people loose almost two stone over the course of a year (originally reported by the Independent).
Cash payments of up to £425 were offered by an NHS primary care trust in Kent to 402 volunteers who signed up for the year-long "£s for pounds" trial in January 2009.
Among the 100 who completed the course, the average weight loss over the year was 25lb. However, they represented only a quarter of the total. In all, two-thirds of the volunteers failed to reach their ‘weight loss target’.
The mixed results are a disappointment to advocates of the use of financial incentives to change unhealthy behaviour. Some experts say that cash rewards may offer the best hope of persuading people to alter their lifestyles and head off the epidemic of chronic disease associated with smoking, drinking and overeating.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) held a two-day hearing to discuss the use of cash incentives in health. In addition to helping people lose weight and give up smoking, other schemes have offered rewards to addicts to stay off drugs and £10 record vouchers to young people who agree to have a test for Chlamydia.
An independent evaluation of the Kent weight loss scheme by the University of Sheffield concluded that financial incentives worked for some people, but the high drop-out rate meant the true impact was unclear.
Claire Martin, acting assistant director of public health for NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT, said: "Very often people lose weight, but when they stop their diet the weight returns. We need to invest in programmes that return a sustained weight loss and produce long-term health benefits. There were high drop-out rates and so it is very difficult to interpret the results to show how successful this would be across our population."
The cost of the Kent scheme, run by a private company, was around £180 per head. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the cost to the NHS of treating obesity-related conditions was £4.2bn.
The private company reported that 745 people had joined the scheme, more than half through the NHS Kent scheme and the remainder as private customers, paying a monthly fee. The average weight loss after one year was 15.8lb. These results suggest that long-term financial incentives could be the best single weapon in the war on obesity. The company is now offering a maximum payout of £3,000 to private customers who lose 150lb over 21 months and keep it off for three months. Customers pay £135 to join the scheme and £30 a month.
Other Healthy dividends;
* In Essex, pregnant women who smoke have been offered up to £60 in food vouchers if they give up.
* In Hammersmith, west London, and in Bournemouth, the NHS has offered those under the age of 25 a £10 HMV voucher to have a Chlamydia test.
* In the UK, a private company charges a £10-£30 monthly fee and offers £150 to clients who lose 50lb and up to £3,000 for people who lose 150lb.
* In the US, employees of General Electric were paid up to $750 (£500) if they gave up smoking for at least 12 months.
* Several companies in the US offer a similar service.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence (NICE) came up with the idea to reward people in this way to reduce long term strain on the NHS. They are now looking at extending the scheme to reward those who have Weight Loss Hypnotherapy to shed excess pounds. Long term it will save the NHS a great deal of money and resources.
If you are overweight and feel you may benefit from weight loss hypnotherapy then you can choose to address your issues with a qualified professional hypnotherapist to help you to lose weight, deal with any underlying emotional issues, thus giving you the best opportunity of keeping it off.
Weight Loss Hypnotherapy has been in the news a lot recently as more and more people have become aware that Weight Loss Hypnotherapy can help them lose weight. Recently a 56-year-old woman spoke about how she lost three stone with Weight Loss Hypnotherapy and now the NHS are starting to listen.
The NHS knows that if people lose weight it will save the NHS a great deal of money. In this country we are seeing more and more Obese people which is causing the NHS a great strain on their finances with more and more people having major health problems due to being overweight.
One suggestion has been put forward where people who use Weight Loss Hypnotherapy to lose weight could be given a similar cash incentive of £425 (after the scheme in Kent helped some people to lose weight).
Such a scheme would be great and would, in the long run, save the NHS money. People find it hard to lose weight but with Weight Loss Hypnotherapy they can have a realistic chance of becoming their ideal weight.
