Getting The Skinny On Weight Management Care

Conor Verbruggen and Shane Keogh at their Newtown HQ

atest press release from Project Health in Newtown, issued on Tuesday, July 14th 2026…

As demand for weight management and preventative healthcare continues to grow, a new training initiative from Project Health aims to support general practitioners in developing evidence-based lifestyle health services within their own practices.

Many GP surgeries across Ireland are seeing increasing numbers of patients seeking help with weight management, metabolic health, high cholesterol, diabetes prevention and lifestyle-related conditions. While medication can play an important role for some patients, sustainable lifestyle interventions remain the foundation of long-term health.

Based in Newtown, Project Health has launched a dedicated education and collaboration programme designed specifically for GP practices wishing to establish or enhance wellness and weight management clinics.

The service offers both half-day and full-day training workshops tailored to the needs of individual practices. Sessions focus on practical implementation rather than theory alone, helping GPs and practice staff develop structured, evidence-based pathways that can be integrated as routine primary care.

Training topics include:

⦿ Developing a successful lifestyle health plan within a community setting
⦿ Evidence-based weight management strategies
⦿ Exercise prescription for common chronic conditions
⦿ Nutrition fundamentals and behavioural change
⦿ Appropriate use of metabolic assessments
⦿ Interpretation of body composition and cardiovascular risk markers
⦿ Patient engagement and long-term follow-up
⦿ Referral pathways and multidisciplinary collaboration

In addition to education, Project Health offers ongoing partnership opportunities for GP practices that wish to expand their services without investing in specialised equipment or additional staffing.

Practices can access a dedicated GP referral and booking platform, allowing patients to be booked directly into specialist assessments, including:

⦿ Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) testing
⦿ Sub maximal cardiovascular fitness testing in a controlled setting using VO2 analyser
⦿ Lifestyle and nutrition support
⦿ Exercise programmes tailored to chronic disease and weight management

Following assessment, comprehensive reports are returned to the referring GP, ensuring continuity of care while allowing patients to benefit from advanced lifestyle medicine services.

The model enables practices to offer enhanced person centred pathways while maintaining the GP at the centre of patient management.

“Primary care is ideally placed to lead preventative healthcare, yet much of our healthcare system continues to focus on treating illness after it develops rather than preventing it in the first place,” says Shane Keogh, physiotherapist, exercise physiologist and co-founder of both Project Health and PhysioKlinic. “Our goal is not to replace services already provided by GPs, but to support practices with the training, systems and specialist assessments that can help deliver high-quality lifestyle medicine in an efficient and evidence-based way.”

The initiative is particularly relevant as increasing numbers of practices establish dedicated obesity management and chronic disease clinics alongside traditional general practice services. Over the past year we have worked more closely with Carrig Clinic (among other GP clinics) to establish a collaborative working method and maximise patient outcomes by either avoiding a medication (such as a GLP-1) or by supporting individuals to minimise associated muscle loss while using these types of medicines.

Training can be delivered on-site at GP practices or at Project Health’s Newtown facility and can be tailored to suit individual practice requirements.

GPs interested in learning more about the training programme or collaborative referral service are encouraged to contact Project Health below to discuss how the programme can be adapted to meet the needs of their practice and patient population.

You can contact Project Health on [email protected], check out their website here, book a spot here, and follow on Instagram right here.