Free help with eating and habits: dietitians, Health Improvement Practitioners and your care team

Who does what in New Zealand, and how to get free support in your corner

Every major trial behind the weight loss injectables had something in common besides the medicine: nobody did it alone. Participants had regular contact with a care team and support with food and activity, and that support is part of why the results were as strong as they were. People who go it alone tend to get less out of treatment, lose more muscle, and find maintenance harder.

The good news for New Zealanders: some of the best support available is free, and most people have never heard of it.

The free option: Health Improvement Practitioners and Health Coaches

Many general practices around New Zealand now include a Health Improvement Practitioner (HIP) and a Health Coach in the practice team, through the national Access and Choice programme.

What makes them worth knowing about:

• They are free. No charge, regardless of your income or age.
• No referral needed, and no waiting list culture. You can simply ring your practice and ask for an appointment, and often a GP or nurse can walk you down the hall to meet them the same day.
• They help with exactly the things that decide treatment success. Eating habits, activity, sleep, stress, motivation, and sticking with changes when life gets busy. A HIP is a registered health professional trained in practical behaviour change support; a Health Coach works alongside them on goals and follow-through.
• Sessions are short, practical and repeatable. This is not therapy with a year-long commitment. It is focused help with the next step, as often as you need it.

The catch: not every practice has them yet. The programme is still rolling out, so the move is simple: phone the general practice you are enrolled with and ask whether they have a Health Improvement Practitioner or Health Coach. If they do, you have just added free, ongoing support to your treatment. If they do not, ask whether a nearby practice in their network does, and mention it to us.

Your Well Revolution care team

Alongside either of the above, your treatment plan with us includes unlimited access to your care team and GP while you are on treatment. Side effects, protein questions, plateaus, dose worries, a rough month: message us first and message us early. And if you regain a few kilograms during maintenance, that is precisely when to get in touch, not something to be embarrassed about; early reviews are small fixes.

Support is not an optional extra bolted onto treatment. It is one of the levers that makes the medicine worth what you are paying for it. For the full set of habits that drive results, see Getting the best results on Wegovy or Mounjaro.

This article is general information, not personal medical advice.

Existing members: want dietitian suggestions, or help finding support near you? Log in at member.wellrevolution.com and start a priority chat.

New to Well Revolution? Start an online weight management assessment with one of our NZ-registered doctors.

References

1. Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand. Wellbeing support in general practice (Access and Choice programme). Link
2. Healthify He Puna Waiora. Health improvement practitioner. Link
3. Healthify He Puna Waiora. Health coaches. Link
4. Wilding JPH, et al. Once-weekly semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity (STEP 1; all participants received lifestyle intervention and counselling). New England Journal of Medicine. 2021;384:989-1002. Link
5. Dietitians Board of New Zealand. Find a registered dietitian. Link