Bring lifestyle change into your scope of care.

Support your clients to live healthier lives. Join a national network of health professionals delivering the HEAL program – a structured, eight-week lifestyle modification program which works.

As a HEAL facilitator, you’ll run weekly group sessions, guide clients to build healthy habits, and have an opportunity to help shape collaborative, multidisciplinary care within the primary care context.

Training, resources and client materials are all provided. If you’re an exercise physiologist, physiotherapist, or a nurse, occupational therapist, Aboriginal health worker or dietitian with a Cert IV in Fitness, you may be eligible to deliver HEAL in your community.

HEAL (Healthy Eating Active Lifestyle) is an evidence-based lifestyle modification program aimed at chronic disease prevention. HEAL has been supporting communities for over 25 years.

It is designed to build the capacity of your participants to develop sustainable healthy eating and exercise practises, and to foster community connections and a supportive social environment through group activities.

As a trained HEAL facilitator, you will be supported to confidently deliver:

one-on-one consultations and assessments with your clients at the beginning and the end of the program
eight-week programs consisting of education and supervised group exercise sessions
follow up reviews at five and 12 months after the program with your participants

HEAL is delivered across a variety of settings – from solo allied health practices to multidisciplinary teams, local councils, Primary Health Networks and hospitals. The program lends itself well to collaboration, with exercise physiologists and dietitians benefitting by working together to enhance outcomes and make the most of available Medicare-subsidised care options. The program’s flexibility makes it suitable for both community and clinical environments, and it’s easily adapted to meet the needs of diverse populations. Whether you’re working independently or part of a larger organisation, HEAL can complement and enhance the support you provide.

How HEAL supports your clients/patients

a safe way to be introduced to regular physical activity
promotes healthy eating and improved nutrition knowledge
develop your client’s skills in goal setting and behaviour modification
develop the foundations for your client to maintain a healthy lifestyle
promotes measures of success other than weight

Who HEAL is for

HEAL was designed to support participants living with cardiovascular or metabolic conditions to prevent their health from getting worse. HEAL can also be helpful for people who:

have or at risk of cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes
anyone one wanting to improve their overall wellbeing through better nutrition knowledge and safe, regular physical activity

Is your service based in South Western Sydney? You may be eligible for grant funding – visit MTC-HEAL for details.

HEAL licensing

HEAL is available in three license types and is paid annually.

	Individual	Corporate	Not-for-profit
1-2 facilitators	$479.85	–	–
3-6 facilitators	–	$1,056.30	$528.15
7-20 facilitators	–	$3,055.50	$1,527.75
21-50 facilitators	–	$6,366.15	$3,182.55
51+ facilitators	–	$10,568.25	$5,283.60
online HEAL Facilitator training**	✔	✔	✔
email support	✔	✔	✔
phone support	✔	✔	✔
promotional media library	✔	✔	✔
education slides	✔	✔	✔
participant and facilitator manuals	✔	✔	✔
HEAL assessment forms and templates	✔	✔	✔

**Facilitator training will incur a once-off additional cost of $410 per facilitator to access the training modules.

Prices are the annual rate up until April 2026, prices will be adjusted based on registration date.

HEAL licence include:

tailored assessments for you to measure outcomes and progress for your clients over the duration of this program
presentation slides for each weekly topic to guide your educations sessions
guides to exercise sessions for the HEAL program
a facilitator manual to guide your sessions
manuals for your participants to work through during the program
brochures to help you with promote HEAL and get registrations
letter templates to facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration between other facilitators and general practitioners
opportunities to provide feedback of the program through surveys

HEAL facilitator eligibility

HEAL facilitators will need to be tertiary trained health professionals. The list of occupations eligible to become a HEAL facilitator include:

physiotherapists
exercise physiologists
registered nurses°
dietitians^
occupational therapists°
Aboriginal health workers°

°A Cert IV in Fitness is required for these professions.

^Dietitians may deliver part of the HEAL program if they do not have a Cert IV in Fitness under partial eligibility. Partially eligible facilitators will be required to have at least one facilitator who is able to deliver the entire HEAL program under their license.

Testimonials

GPs perspective

When approached by SWSPHN to find 10 patients willing to take part in the program, Fairfield GP Dr Dong Hua (pictured) didn’t hesitate.

“This program was very beneficial to all the patients who took part in it,” Dr Hua said. “In addition to weight loss, there were noticeable improvements in blood pressure, diabetes control and, in some instances, their psychological wellbeing. “They developed healthier habits as evidenced by that weight loss which was maintained over time,” he said.

“While some weight loss might not be significantly large, it was a positive change in their lifestyle habits which can be seen as the way forward in providing healthier outcomes.”

“Obesity is a growing health epidemic in South Western Sydney and across Australia. The program was a great initiative for patients to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle.”