family focus
Wellness Empowers
Heartland=
West Bloomfield
JFS to expand healthful living
program with free classes this fall.
Presents
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Sunday July 20, 2014
12:00 p.m. — 3:00 p.m.
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6950 Farmington Road
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
(on Farmington Road between 14 Mile & Maple Roads)
We welcome patients, families, friends, employees
and all members of the community to join us for a
fun-filled afternoon to show our gratitude for your
support over the years. Admission is free!
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Birmingham
765 E. Maple Road
248-494-6225
O
West Bloomfield
6247 Orchard Lake Road
248-432-728b
www.tutoringcenter.com
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Keep your company top of mind with our readers.
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Visit theJEWISHNEWS.com
48 July 17 • 2014
iffi
hen we think about what
we toast to, what we want
for those we love, it's
more often than not a wish for good
health and happiness. But while we
express this hope for ourselves and
our loved ones through our joyful
L'Chaims, it's often not so simple
to find motivation and take strides
toward actual physical and mental
well-being.
Recent data from the
U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention
states that chronic diseases
are the current leading
cause of death and dis-
ability in the United States.
Diseases with a direct
link to lifestyle risk fac-
tors cause seven out of 10
deaths each year.
The good news is that
lifestyle is amendable.
Disease prevention and management
are often possible with a few reason-
able life changes, and you don't have
to make those changes alone!
Jewish Family Service (JFS) seeks
to strengthen lives through compas-
sionate service, guided by the wis-
dom of our Jewish traditions. That's
our mission statement, and it's our
ever-evolving goal through program-
ing to support families and the com-
munity.
Each year, JFS serves people of all
ages, religions and socioeconomic
backgrounds through a variety of
social services and mental health
programs. We believe in a philoso-
phy of individualized assistance that
addresses the immediate concern of
those needing help, while also con-
sidering the needs and experiences
of the whole person.
With this approach and these
values in mind, in 2010, JFS began
a two-year wellness program for
women identified as at risk for
heart disease. The agency expanded
on these efforts with a program to
address the debilitating effects of
diabetes in Southeastern Michigan.
The resulting initiative, Wellness
Empowers, was designed to help low-
income adults with type 2 diabetes
manage the challenges presented by
their disease through healthy lifestyle
choices.
This program demonstrated that
with proper education and related
materials, even people who are
struggling financially can learn to
shop, eat and lead healthy lives in
their neighborhoods and community.
Many participants were able to lose
weight, decrease smoking and sig-
nificantly lower their blood sugar.
One participant, who had diabe-
tes and high blood pressure, lost
10 pounds over the course of the
program, and for the first
time in her life (with
medical guidance and
supervision of her doctor)
reduced her medications
for blood pressure. This
participant felt encouraged
and was able to become
more active, eat healthful-
ly and have more energy
overall.
Another participant,
with the help of a pedom-
eter provided by Wellness
Empowers and his wellness coach's
encouragement, now walks between
11,000 and 20,000 steps a day —
that's more than 5 miles! This helped
him make significant progress to sta-
bilize his blood sugar levels.
With a generous grant from the
Sinai Medical Staff Foundation,
Jewish Family Service is excited
to introduce a new variation of
Wellness Empowers. Building on the
program's previous successes, JFS is
offering a broader and more inclu-
sive program to help community
members address risk factors of all
chronic illness, including diabetes,
heart disease and obesity with free
classes over the course of six months.
Groups will meet with a wellness
coach every other week and receive
advice and resources for techniques
for healthy living including cook-
ing classes, fitness information and
more.
The program begins in September;
interested community members are
asked to enroll as soon as possible.
Sessions will take place at Jewish
Family Service's West Bloomfield
location at 6555 W. Maple Road,
as well as the Oak Park location at
25900 Greenfield Road, Suite 405. To
enroll, or for more information, con-
tact me at osemenova@jfsdetroit.org ,
or (248) 592-2662.
❑
Olga Semenova is the coordinator of the
Wellness Empowers program at JFS.