The Live Light ….Live Right program is a
Brookdale hospital and community based partnership developed to
deliver a program to children with special health care needs. The
target population is overweight and obese children and adolescents,
ages 2 to 18, who have one or more metabolic abnormalities associated
with obesity such as (hypertension, hyperinsulinemia or diabetes
and dyslipidemia.) These conditions are risk factors for chronic
diseases, including coronary artery disease and type II diabetes.
The program coordinates and integrates the multi-disciplinary services
required to achieve optimal clinical management, promote healthy
eating behaviors and lifelong exercise, and to affect long-term
behavior modifications that impact health outcomes in childhood,
adolescence and adulthood.
The goals of the program are to:
1. Increase access to coordinated, comprehensive, culturally sensitive,
medical and psychosocial care.
2. Increase the skills and knowledge of community pediatricians
in the identification and appropriate management of childhood obesity
3. Increase community awareness and understanding of obesity as
a serious health issue.
4. Increase community-based care coordination and support.
The goals of the program are accomplished
by:
1. Identifying and referring overweight/obese children
who have one or more obesity-associated metabolic disorders (hypertension,
hyperinsulinemia and type II diabetes, and dyslipidemia.) to the
Pediatric Obesity clinic)
2. Providing care coordination to obese children through
integration of health care with the school, community, and home-based
services.
3. Providing education and support to community pediatricians
in the identification and medical management of overweight and obesity
in children and adolescents.
4. Providing community education on obesity and obesity-related
disorders.
5. Providing nutrition education and counseling to
children and parents.
6. Providing physical activity training and structured
opportunities for exercise and physical activity in safe spaces
throughout the community.
7. Providing parent/peer support groups.
This approach is consistent with the mission
statement of our institution, which in part states that Brookdale
Hospital is "committed to be the focus of a healthy community".
This project is partially funded by the New
York State Department of Health through a grant 'Enhanced services
for children & Youth'.
