HEALTH & WELLNESS
HEALTH & WELLNESS
OF NORTH TEXAS
T
he year 2030 marks an important turning point, according to the U.S. Census
Bureau. It’s then that all Baby Boomers will be older than 65, meaning that one in
five residents will be retirement age.
“Within just a couple decades, older people are projected to outnumber children
for the first time in U.S. history,” Jonathan Vespa, a demographer with the U.S. Census
Bureau, noted. “By 2035, there will be 78 million people 65 years and older, compared
to 76.4 million under the age of 18.” The bureau predicts the next few years to be
transformative ones, as the population grows at a slower pace and ages considerably.
As Americans look toward living longer lives, we also wish for a good quality in our
years, well into retirement. We know that to accomplish this, a focus on health and
wellness for people of all ages is important. North Texans look toward the future with
a mission of making their neighborhoods, their companies and their cities, places that
support and foster their best promise for a life well-lived: health and wellness.
AN AGING POPULATION
2060
2035
2016
65 +
-18
By the year 2030 1 in 5
residents will be retirement age.
WWW.NTC-DFW.ORG
SUMMER 2018
BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE HEALTH &
WELLNESS CENTER AT THE JUANITA J.
CRAFT RECREATION CENTER
Removing barriers to care and creating an open
flow of information and inspiration is pertinent to
improving the health of a community.
“I mean, it’s right here in my neighborhood
how can you not take advantage of that?” J.D.
Evans, a patient of the center, expressed. “I had
diabetes, and my sugar was 400. I was in bad shape.
As fate would have it, I started going to the Juanita
Craft Recreation Center and, in the course of a year
and a half, I got myself back to normal. I’m much
more energetic now, and I’m working.”
This approach has strengthened the
programming and effectiveness of both entities in
their efforts to provide a variety of programs and
services to assist in living a healthier lifestyle and
combat our country’s challenges of poor nutrition,
hunger, obesity and physical activity.
People who live in the Frazier neighborhood
in South Dallas have the highest rates of diabetes,
heart disease, cancer and stroke in the city. To
And the numbers prove it works: A study
improve this situation, Baylor Scott & White
published in Health Affairs shows that people
Health works with the City
who went to the center
of Dallas in a joint effort to
used the emergency
provide better prevention and
department 21.4 percent
access to care. By embedding
“I mean, it’s right
less and inpatient
a comprehensive healthcare
services 36.7 percent less,
here in my neighborhood
team in the local recreation
resulting in an average
– how can you not take
center, residents have
cost decrease of 34.5
convenient access to a medical
advantage of that?” J.D. Evans
percent and 54.4 percent,
clinic, one-on-one health
respectively, over 12
coaching, nutrition counseling
months.
and wellness classes.
Today, the center enjoys continued success as
The partnership was built around the Diabetes
members make good use of the information, access
Health and Wellness Institute at Juanita J. Craft
and support they find in their neighborhood – just
Recreation Center, which opened in the summer
steps from their own front doors.
of 2010 at 4500 Spring Avenue in Dallas. Named
for the beloved and well-known community
activist Juanita J. Craft, the center has served the
neighborhood for many years as a trusted place for
individuals and families. The center is now known
as the Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness
COOPER INSTITUTE WORKS
Center at the Juanita J. Craft Recreation Center.
CARE AT YOUR
CORPORATION:
By the year 2035 people older than 65 will
outnumber the people under age 18 for the first time.
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CARE IN YOUR
NEIGHBORHOOD:
The center offers members a variety of services,
including: a medical clinic, diabetes education,
disease management, nutrition counseling,
computer and game rooms, and a fitness and
aerobic room. Classes are designed to focus
on being active, healthy eating, understanding
prescriptions, problem solving, reducing health
risks and managing stress. Members participate
in ongoing monthly activities which can include
fitness classes like yoga and turbo kickboxing,
Zumba, line dancing, walking and weight training,
to activities like Bible study, ESL classes, tween
programs, cooking classes or shopping for fresh
produce at the Farm Stand.
And, it’s been doing more than espousing the
benefits of a concerted effort toward health and
wellness – it’s been backing those claims up with
research. The Cooper Center Longitudinal Study
(CCLS) is the largest and longest longitudinal
study in the world of measured fitness. Starting
with information collected by Dr. Kenneth
Cooper on index cards, the CCLS has now
evolved into a database containing 2.5 gigabytes
of unprecedented, priceless information. Since the
institute’s landmark study in 1989 showing the
association between being fit and lower mortality,
research from the CCLS continues to evaluate the
benefits of regular exercise, healthy lifestyle and
preventive healthcare – effectively proving, again
and again, that exercise truly is medicine.
Corporate leaders with some of the region’s
largest companies have taken note of the research
and employed it in their company’s own approaches
to health and wellness, to the benefit of tens of
thousands of employees across North Texas. Many
of these executives also serve alongside Dr. Cooper
when advocating for health and wellness across
corporate America. Research shows that positive
lifestyle factors at mid-life lead to healthier golden
years with fewer chronic diseases, better quality of
life and lower healthcare costs and has provided
insights into how to age well. And the numbers
are startling – being fit at mid-life results in better
health after age 65 as shown by:
37 % less 36 % less
hospitalizations
for stroke Alzheimer’s disease
and related dementias
34% less
chronic kidney
disease
74 % less
hospitalization
for heart
44% less
colorectal cancer
WITH COMPANIES
The Cooper Institute was founded in Dallas in
1970 by Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, the “Father of
Aerobics,” as a non-profit organization with a
simple vision to prove that exercise is medicine.
For almost a half-century, the Cooper Institute
has not only established the benefit of regular
physical activity but also has helped provide links
between fitness and many chronic and potentially
preventable diseases. Then, Dr. Cooper may have
been a little ahead of his time, but today, the
Cooper Institute is the heartbeat of health and
wellness for citizens, corporations and communities
in the North Texas area and beyond.
Health risks after the age of 65 decrease
the more active you are at mid-life.
The Cooper Institute is working with thought
leaders from around the country, including The
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center,
Stanford University and The University of Texas
School of Public Health, to define the optimal life
choices that lead to good health.
Information like this comes at a crucial time for
employers across the U.S. who are struggling
SUMMER 2018
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