Embrace a Healthy Florida

Did you know that in Florida, 33.1% of children ages 10-17 are overweight or obese? This means Florida has a higher percentage of childhood obesity than the national average which stands at 30.6%. A study from the New England Journal of Medicine shows that children who are overweight or obese are more likely than others to become obese as adults. A 2004 study commissioned by the Action for Healthy Kids show that overweight and obese children may also suffer from higher rates of depression, greater difficulty in peer relationships and poorer quality of life than their normal weight counterparts.

This is why partnerships like Healthy Jacksonville Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition and the BCBSF Foundation are important. This August marked the 10th anniversary of the coalition and was commemorated with the unveiling of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation’s 2011 Embrace a Healthy Florida grant recipients for the city of Jacksonville.

To learn more, watch Susan Towler (Vice President, BCBSF Foundation) speak at the Healthy Jacksonville Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition's 10-Year Anniversary Celebration.

What everybody ought to know about Fireworks - tips from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Florida

Happy Fourth of July everybody! We are excited to celebrate this fun
weekend here in beautiful Florida. As always, we hope everybody has a safe time. Our Dr. Jannifer Harper, Vice President of Medical Operations, here at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida gave us some great information on fireworks and what to do in case of injury during this weekend.  

The Fourth of July is a notorious time for fireworks-related injuries and trips to the emergency room. According to a report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), there are about 200+ fireworks injuries a day nationwide between mid-June and mid-July.

The most common cause of injuries is firecrackers, which are essentially gunpowder, followed by sparklers. Most people do not consider, when handing a young child a sparkler, that sparklers can reach extreme temperatures of 1200 degrees Fahrenheit.

My colleagues and I at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida encourage all Floridians, in their pursuit of health, to enjoy a safe and injury-free Independence Day celebration. That means leaving the fireworks to the professionals and enjoying one of the many fireworks displays offered in communities across South Florida.

If you decide to handle fireworks, here is some sensible advice in case of injury:

• First and foremost remain calm
• Only the mildest of injuries should be treated at home
• The best course of action is to seek medical care
• Urgent care centers can treat minor cuts, burns and abrasions, as well as some sprains and fractures Individuals with more severe injuries should go to the emergency room or be transported  by ambulance, especially in the case of head trauma or loss of consciousness

For additional information on health and wellness, visit your neighborhood Florida Blue Center or  CPSC's Fireworks Safety page, and from all of us at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida we wish you and your family a happy and healthy Fourth of July!

Dr. Jannifer Harper is Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida’s Vice President of medical operations, leading the clinical areas of the medical operations unit as well as oversight of clinical strategy for BCBSF.

Random Acts of Planting

On Earth Day, spread the love…

The environment we live in makes a big difference in our frame of reference and our outlook on life.

Taking a minute to brighten up a drab or forgotten corner of the world with a few seeds, bulbs or perennials can make any neighborhood feel just a little healthier.

We gave it a try and were surprised to find just how happy and healthy it made us feel.

Pass it on in your community.

Inspiration... The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation

Celebrating 10 Years, a New Name and a Million Successes

The Pursuit of Health is all about INSPIRING our friends, families and neighbors to achieve the most they can out of their lives.

The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation has been helping Floridians to do just that for a decade! The Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida, continues to celebrate its 10-Year Anniversary today at the Sapphire Award Symposium in Orlando. We are proud of the work The Foundation has done and wanted to take this opportunity to share some of their amazing results.

To get an overview of the tremendous impact this organization has made on improving access to health care in the state of Florida, we sat down with Cyrus M. Jollivette, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs with BCBSF and Chair of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation Board of Directors.

Russ shared with us that the BCBSF Foundation is the only state-wide health care philanthropy in Florida. It began in 2001, under the name The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida as a small organization that made grants to nonprofits to enhance access to quality health related services for the uninsured and underserved people of Florida.  Over the course of the decade, the Foundation has grown its philanthropic activities to include addressing childhood obesity, the use of simulation in nurse education and the creation of The Sapphire Award to recognize excellence among community health programs.

“One million Floridians” is the accomplishment Russ is most proud of. It is truly remarkable that the Foundation has been able to provide health-related services to more than one million people, across all 67 Florida counties, who would not otherwise have had this access.  Through partnerships with 280 non-profit organizations across the state the Foundation enabled one million Floridians to gain access to the health care they needed.

The Foundation is very focused on its new mission of improving the health and well-being of Floridians and their communities. It has expanded its focus to include five categories of giving: 1) improving access to health care; 2) improving consumer health; 3) improving quality and safety of patient care; 4) improving quality of life; and 5) improving the health care system.

“In order to be truly effective at achieving this goal, we are responsive to current needs,” says Russ. An example is the grant made in early 2010 to the food banks across the state.  More than 1.1 million pounds of food, equaling 857,353 meals were distributed to 15,773 families (counted as a family of four) during a time of great need in our state.  Russ describes his work with the Foundation as “very meaningful” and is passionate about the fact that it further connects the parent organization to the true needs of the citizens of Florida at a grassroots level.

There is so much more to tell – but here are a few of the stories of the Foundation’s work in partnership with Florida nonprofits that inspire us!

·     We are INSPIRED by the story of Robert* who can now see clearly because of the vision screening, glaucoma treatment and eyeglasses he received from Vision is Priceless Council.

·     We are INSPIRED by Dina* who was born healthy because of the prenatal care her mother received at The Way Free Medical Clinic.

·     We are INSPIRED by John*, who is no longer homeless as a result of receiving medical care from Helping Hands. The health care he received enabled him to get and keep a job and move from the woods to an apartment.

·     We are INSPIRED by all of the nonprofit leaders and volunteers across our great state who dedicate themselves to the people most in need!

We can’t wait to see what the Foundation accomplishes in its next decade!

*names changed to protect privacy