Lifestyle Medicine Program Expands to NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County as Part of Citywide Expansion

Way of life Medication Program Expands to NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County as A part of Citywide Enlargement

Nov 30, 2023

New York, NY — NYC Well being + Hospitals at present introduced that its nationally acknowledged Way of life Medication Program has expanded to NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County in Brooklyn. That is the third of six new websites to make this system obtainable citywide, following the latest launch of this system at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Jacobi within the Bronx and NYC Well being + Hospitals/Woodhull in Brooklyn. The pilot program, launched at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Bellevue in 2019 with the assist of then-Borough President Eric Adams, has already seen a whole lot of sufferers. The Way of life Medication Program’s staff helps sufferers in making evidence-based way of life adjustments, together with a healthful plant-based food plan, elevated bodily exercise, improved sleep habits, stress discount, avoidance of substance use, and stronger social connections. Adults residing with prediabetes, kind 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart illness, or well being issues associated to extra weight are eligible to enroll. This system can accommodate 48 new sufferers every month, and the care staff at every website consists of physicians, nurse practitioner(s), licensed nurse midwife (Woodhull solely), a dietitian, a well being coach, neighborhood well being employees, a psychologist, a program coordinator, and an train coach. The six new websites embody NYC Well being + Hospitals/Jacobi, Woodhull, and Kings County, which have already launched, and NYC Well being + Hospitals/Elmhurst, Lincoln, and Gotham Well being, Vanderbilt launching within the coming months. Present sufferers of NYC Well being + Hospitals can get a referral to this system from their supplier, and people who find themselves not but sufferers of NYC Well being + Hospitals can see in the event that they qualify to enroll in this system by contacting 347-507-3695.

“Being a Meals Ahead NYC means guaranteeing all New Yorkers could make healthful habits adjustments, which for some, may embody transitioning to an entire meals, plant-based food plan,” stated Mayor’s Workplace of Meals Coverage Govt Director Kate MacKenzie. “We’re grateful for Well being + Hospitals’ continued partnership within the upstream concentrating on of the key drivers of sickness and inequities crucial to rising life expectancy holistically in underserved communities throughout the 5 boroughs. By means of this way of life drugs growth, New Yorkers disproportionately impacted by persistent situations in Kings County may have entry to the instruments and interdisciplinary assist that may assist them the lead longer, more healthy lives they deserve.”

“I’m thrilled to rejoice the launch of the Way of life Medication Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County,” stated Michelle McMacken, MD, FACP, DipABLM, Govt Director of Diet and Way of life Medication at NYC Well being + Hospitals. “Wholesome way of life behaviors are foundational to stopping and treating widespread persistent situations similar to kind 2 diabetes and hypertension. The Way of life Medication Program’s gifted interdisciplinary staff will present sufferers with the steerage they should undertake more healthy habits, whereas additionally serving to to handle meals insecurity and different key boundaries to way of life change. Kudos to NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County for providing this invaluable useful resource to sufferers and the neighborhood.”

“The launch of our Way of life Medication Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County is a testomony to our dedication to holistic wellness,” stated Sheldon McLeod, NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County’s Chief Govt Officer. “We’re excited to supply a program that equips our sufferers with sources for adopting more healthy habits, similar to entry to plant-based consuming supplies and particular person counseling periods. With our Way of life Medication Program, we’re revolutionizing healthcare by providing extra than simply remedy—we’re providing empowerment.”

“I’ve excessive ldl cholesterol and prediabetes, so my physician referred me to the Way of life Medication Program,” stated Timothy Nicholls, a affected person of the Way of life Medication Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County. “I’m studying how one can make higher decisions about what I’m consuming. I’m consuming extra greens, extra celery, extra fruit. I’m studying how one can get extra train and stroll extra. This system is strictly what I used to be searching for.”

“It is a program with a distinction.” stated Paulette James, a affected person of the Way of life Medication Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County. “It’s attending to know you and know precisely what’s bothering you – how you reside, your actions, the way you eat. It’s lovely. The time they take to get to know you has blown me away.”

The Way of life Medication’s nine-month program offers each affected person with the next sources:

• 6 to 9 one-on-one counseling periods. Sufferers may have 2-3 visits every with a doctor, nurse practitioner or licensed nurse midwife, a dietitian, and a well being coach to develop and implement a personalised care plan.
• 14 weekly group courses. Subjects embody studying diet labels, grocery procuring, meal planning and preparation, and sleep and stress administration methods.

• 8 weekly train courses.Sufferers will work with an train coach and take residence a resistance band for power coaching.
• 6 free, month-to-month deliveries of seasonal contemporary produce. Sufferers will work with dietitians to find out about incorporating vegetables and fruit into their food plan throughout culinary traditions and talent ranges. Scrumptious and wholesome recipes developed by the staff’s dietitians accompany every produce field. (Launches early 2024)
• Well being Bucks. Sufferers may have entry to Well being Bucks, that are $2 coupons that can be utilized to buy contemporary vegetables and fruit at NYC farmers markets. 5 of the seven program websites have farmers’ markets on their campus.
• Culinary expertise movies. Sufferers can study cooking expertise via brief movies developed by the Way of life Medication staff in partnership with a web based culinary college, Rouxbe. The movies will function wholesome cooking throughout varied culinary traditions, together with Caribbean, South American, Central American, and South Asian, and can be translated into Spanish, Mandarin, Bengali, and Haitian Creole. (Launches early 2024)
• A plant-based cookbook. Cookbooks on plant-based consuming for kind 2 diabetes can be found as properly.
• Help accessing advantages. Neighborhood well being employees will assist eligible sufferers entry SNAP advantages and diet sources.

Every website will companion with native community-based group(s) to discover methods to assist neighborhood members in diet and different elements of way of life change. The Way of life Medication Program at NYC Well being + Hospitals/Kings County will collaborate with United Neighborhood Facilities in Brooklyn.

“We’re very excited to have the ability to collaborate to share preventative options to neighborhood members trying to stay more healthy,” stated Sarah Bacio, Assistant Venture Director at East New York Farms, a venture of United Neighborhood Facilities. “I hope that this collaboration strengthens our relationship with NYC Well being + Hospitals and offers our market patrons with worthwhile sources and assist to empower them to make more healthy decisions. Connecting of us with contemporary, natural and domestically grown produce and offering areas for them to learn to make extra knowledgeable well being selections is invaluable!”

As soon as the entire websites are launched, this system will have the ability to accommodate almost 4,000 sufferers per yr. With assist from the Metropolis of New York, NYC Well being + Hospitals will commit $3 million this yr and roughly $5 million yearly in future years to fund staffing and programmatic companies for the Way of life Medication Packages.

Specific consideration has been positioned on guaranteeing that the curriculum is related for sufferers from various backgrounds and experiences. For instance, the Spanish-language curriculum displays cultural variations, not merely a translation of the English-language model. Furthermore, particular person visits with the medical suppliers, dietitian, and well being coach enable for tailor-made habits change suggestions primarily based on every affected person’s social, monetary, cultural, and household context.

Formal evaluations of the Bellevue pilot program revealed a profitable implementation course of, extraordinarily excessive demand for companies (greater than 850 sufferers requested to enroll within the first few months), and optimistic well being outcomes together with clinically and statistically vital enhancements in weight, glycemic management, and diastolic blood strain.

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About NYC Well being + Hospitals
NYC Well being + Hospitals is the biggest municipal well being care system within the nation serving greater than 1,000,000 New Yorkers yearly in additional than 70 affected person care places throughout town’s 5 boroughs. A sturdy community of outpatient, neighborhood-based main and specialty care facilities anchors care coordination with the system’s trauma facilities, nursing properties, post-acute care facilities, residence care company, and MetroPlus well being plan—all supported by 11 important hospitals. Its various workforce of greater than 43,000 staff is uniquely targeted on empowering New Yorkers, with out exception, to stay the healthiest life potential. For extra data, go to www.nychealthandhospitals.org and keep related on Fb, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.