1. Families Step Up
Building Healthier, Stronger Families
Leah Holzwarth, MS, ACSM, CWPM
Baptist Health South Florida
Wellness Advantage

2. Baptist Health South Florida
 Healthcare system in South Florida
 Six hospitals
 30 Urgent Care and Diagnostic Centers
 Florida Keys to Broward County
 15,000 employees
 Close to 75,000 admissions in 2011
 Operating revenue of 2.3 billion
 223.1 million in community benefit

3. Wellness Advantage
 Founded in 2000
 Focus strictly on employee health and wellness
 Nationally recognized
 National Business Group on Health
 American College of Occupational Medicine
 American Heart Association
 Wellness Councils of America
 Average 140,000 touches/year
 Cost Avoidance of 17 million

4. Families Step Up Background
Spring 2006 – develop a class for BHSF
employees with overweight children
Fall 2006 – Families Step Up is born
4 sessions on Saturday mornings
2 hour class
Registered Dietitian, Registered Nurse, Exercise
Physiologist
Focus was on healthy eating, exercise and
biometrics
Physician clearance for all participants

5. Updates
Spring 2008
Class moves to six weeks
Class is on week day evenings
One session set aside for a Family Therapist
Fall 2009
Family Therapist replaces Registered Nurse
Class is extended to eight weeks
Dinner is provided at every class
Focus is on play, healthy eating,
communication, play, and family time

6. Current Class information
 Average class size is 7 families
 Average family size is 4.5
 Half have mom and dad participating
 Quickreview of data show most successful families
have an engaged dad or father figure
 Over 60 families have participated

7. Where we are today
Families Step Up is offered twice a year
Eight sessions – 2 hours in length
Dinner is served at every class
Biometrics taken at first class and at 6 month
follow ups
Emphasis on decreasing screen time,
increasing play and healthy eating,
communication and stress management,
being together as a family unit
Include all family members

8. What is in a session
 Dinner
 Introductions
 Parents
introduce
 Same every time
 Educational - Talk about a new skill
 Model behavior – demonstrate how it is done
 Homework reinforces new skills

9. Goals for the family
Dinner together at least 4 nights with TV off
Decreased screen time to no more than 60
minutes (not including homework)
Family play
Family meal preparation
Ultimate goal - to have child grow into
their weight

10. Outcomes
Close to 90% perfect attendance
At least one health metric improvement in all
family members at end of program
Average is 3 improvements
Parents show improvements first
Stories
Alec, Chris, Richard, Deborah, dinner, salmon

11. Challenges
Getting all the medical releases in
Full parental engagement
Knowing how much information to give
Consistent follow-up

13. Questions?

14. Thank you!
Contact Information
Leah Holzwarth
Corporate Director, Wellness Advantage
Baptist Health South Florida
12420 SW 127 Ave.
Miami, FL 33033
(O)786-596-1209
(F) 786-533-9220
leahh@baptisthealth.net
http://www.baptisthealth.net