ABSTRACT
Particularly with lifestyle measures of weight loss and exercise, which are important in the management of osteoarthitis, back pain etc, it is vital to provide continual encouragement and support to enable patients to become involved in their own selfmanagement and thus improve the long term outlook. Increasingly there are facilities available from local authorities and through health boards for patients to take part in exercise schemes to improve general fitness and we, as health care professionals, should play our part in this by encouraging our patients to become involved as appropriate and to make suitable exercise a part of their daily or weekly routine. With weight loss it is also very important to provide regular back-up and support as most patients find it very difficult to change eating habits that have been established over many years.
