Promoting healthy lifestyles through social support systems

PROMOTING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES THROUGH SOCIAL SUP…

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Partner with Bell County to lead Americans in living happier, healthier lives
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Partner with Bell County to lead Americans in living happier, healthier lives
add to watch list

Partner with Bell County to lead Americans in living happier, healthier lives

Project Summary

Obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are preventable diseases that are among the most harmful and widespread in America according to the Kentucky Institute of Medicine. The good news is that with small changes to behaviors they can be prevented.

Microclinic International worked with Bell County residents to develop a 10 month program to help people make small but lasting changes to their behaviors. This program is combined with changes to the local environment that aid a healthy lifestyle - for example, establishing a farmers market and building an exercise trail.

This project funds allows one "microclinic" to participate in the 10 month program by funding the materials and the relevant proportion of the nurses salaries. Microclinics are small groups of close friends, family, or colleagues all of whom have or are at risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes or obesity.

Together with other microclinics this group attends a regular series of classes over 10 months. These classes have a maximum size of 30 participants and are run by two nurses.

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What?

A program of classes has been designed based on a needs assessment in the community. Each class is mapped out and run by two nurses. These classes are very practical and participatory. For example, in week 4 the microclinics visit a grocery store and learn how to read a food label and select healthy food.

At each session nurses present interactive and practical information on how to make sustainable lifestyle behavior changes and every microclinic sets 3 personal goals for the week, for example to drink no more than one can of coke a day, or to walk to work twice. Microclinics also agree on a combined weightloss target. At the following session nurses lead a discussion on whether or not the targets and goals were met and why.

Why?

Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans and obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease are a serious health concern that cost the US economy one trillion dollars a year.

Microclinic programs have proved successful around the world. A pilot of this program started in Bell County in the summer of 2011. It is sponsored by Humana and is being evaluated by independent researchers. Baseline characteristics of the participants such as age, major lifestyle and health factors (e.g. weight, blood pressure) are taken and evaluated again at various times throughout the program and upon completion. Initial feedback was positive, and the program has been extended beyond the pilot phase. In the first month of the pilot:
- Participants have achieved a 95% participation rate at program events
- Participants have achieved an average weight loss of 5 pounds, versus no weight loss seen in a control group.

How?

The program is run by Microclinic International (http://microclinics.org/) in partnership with the Bell County and Cumberland Valley Health Departments (http://www.cvdhd.org/)

The program runs in 4 different locations throughout Bell County to ensure participants can easily attend.

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Bell County, Kentucky, is nestled in the Appalachian region of Southeast Kentucky and is home to approximately 28,700 people.

Bell County has been chosen to pioneer the first-ever microclinic model in the United States due to its rich community bonds, sincere willingness to achieve well-being and lead healthier lives, strong desire to extend social care and support to those within their communities who are in need.

Like many areas throughout the US, Kentucky has seen an increase in the number of people affected by preventable diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported that 15 southern states have regions with diabetes rates above 11 percent, compared to 8.5 percent in the rest of the country.

According to the 2005-‐2009 indicators estimated by the Census Bureau, in Bell County
- 34% of adults are obese
- 12.4% have diabetes,
- there are between 593 and 747 deaths per 100,000 people due to heart disease
- the average life expectancy in Bell County is almost 5 years shorter than the national average
- 3.3% of people 25 or older hold a bachelors degree, and 9th grade is the highest educational attainment for 18%
- 56% of people 16 or over are not in the labor force
- 23% of households have an annual income of less than $10,000.

Community member details not available yet.

Direct Impact of Your Project

This project funds a 10 month program for one microclinic. A microclinic is an organically formed group of between 2 and 6 individuals who choose to come together to manage their diseases.

This social dimension is essential as it counteracts the sense of isolation an individual can feel, and leverages pre-existing social groups to encourage solidarity in managing their health.

Specifically, this program funds a proportion of the salaries for the two nurses as well as the materials required by each participant. Materials include pedometers, water bottles, log books, portion plates and grocery bags.

Extended Impact on Your Partner Community

Unhealthy behavior is contagious, and so is healthy behavior. participants of the microclinics will organically spread their learnings and lifestyle changes to others in the community. Assuming an average family of 4, and that each microclinic participant influences even their direct family, the impact will be multiplied four times. If there are 3 people in a microclinic, 12 people will benefit from shared knowledge. Based on findings from other markets, it is likely the impact on the lives of the community will be much greater.