About the Riley POWER Program

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The Riley Pediatric OverWeight Education and Research (POWER) program aims to improve the health of children (ages 2-18) and decrease the risks of obesity through multi-level and multi-disciplined clinical programs.

The Riley POWER program follows national guidelines and positioning to take a proactive role in the prevention and treatment of youth obesity.

Philosophy

Clarian Health believes that weight loss is best achieved through a positive youth development approach. Positive youth development is an approach to structuring services, systems and support for youth so that young people develop the skills and competencies they need to thrive and enter adulthood ready to face the myriad challenges of adult life, and overcome the negative things in their environments. The essential assets for positive youth development, including support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, constructive use of time, positive values, social competencies and positive identity will be explored in each level of the Riley POWER program.

Aims

The aims of this multi-pronged and multi-level strategy are to:

Empower health care providers in the local communities on how to evaluate, manage and prevent pediatric obesity
Identify, educate, and train professionals (Registered dietitians, Behavioral therapists, and Exercise physiologists) in the local communities
Establish a tertiary-care based weight management program at Riley Hospital for Children for patients who need sub-specialty care. This comprehensive program, led by physicians, dietitians, behavioral therapists and exercise physiologists, will provide thorough medical evaluation and an intensive weight management program with individualized access to various medical specialists.
Implement and promote weight and lifestyle programs that are school-, family-, web-, and community-based.
Promote collaboration with medical and surgical specialists.
Foster research in the field of pediatric obesity including the exploration of other therapeutic modalities.
Secure extra-mural funding to nurture and sustain the Riley POWER program.
Advance education in the field of pediatric obesity.

Design

Obesity interventions need to be multi-level. The Riley POWER program functions on the following levels:

Level 1: Physician education and empowerment – POWER-Physicians
Level 2: Identification of Community resources – POWER-Community
Level 3: Tertiary care level program at Riley – POWER-Riley
Other Objectives: Riley POWER will support and promote community partnerships/programs

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