RESEARCH PROJECT JOURNALS/ DATA FROM MEETINGS:

WHO: Select Health Prenatal Care Manager

WHAT: Select health is an insurance company. They work with the Intermountain
facilities/hospitals. Arlene was the Prenatal Care Manager who spoke to us about her job and
how disease prevention is a big deal. At Select Health they offer a program called Healthy
Beginnings. In her field of work specifically, the focus was on keeping pregnant moms and
newborns/infants healthy from the beginning to the end and decreasing preterm births. Some
common disease/complications that she found to be evident were whooping cough (pertussis). As
well as many women having short cervixes, which led to problems during labor. Some trends
that were recognized were: If you were a preterm birth (less than 37 weeks) , you will most
likely have a preterm labor if pregnant. Usually if the pregnant mother has high blood pressure
(hypertension), the child will also have high blood pressure, this is known as preeclampsia the
cause for this is unknown. The range that she has seen is from 12 to 40 year old women who
were pregnant. She says that the younger you are the more complicated it gets, because at that
young age, your body is still growing. She also mentioned that many mothers were on their own,
the fathers left or for some reason were gone. The older the mother, the higher the risk of
conceiving a child who has down syndrome.
Lately adoption has been decreasing. Thousands of pregnant moms have enrolled in the Healthy
beginnings program. The number one goal they are trying to achieve is decrease preterm births.
The sooner the problem is caught the cheaper because labor can be complicated and expensive if
the child is born with problems. Educating people prevents these problems. Knowing about the
symptoms will help pregnant moms notice if there is something wrong. Something she told us
was the fact that exercise is very helpful during pregnancy. Only 16 hospitals in Utah have
prenatal classes for their patients.
C-sections are very common. It is very important that pregnant mothers take folic acid during the
first stages of pregnancy because that vitamin is a key component in creating the babys spinal
cord and brain. Usually mothers who have low folic acid levels, have children with birth defects.
Another huge problem is women who have low amniotic fluid, this is due to not drinking enough
water. Women are supposed to drink about 64 ounces of water daily. Water carries nutrients
through the blood to the baby, it also prevents dehydration. Dehydration has to be avoided
because it can trigger contractions that can lead to pre-term births. The lungs are the last to
develop during pregnancy. The most common fatal anomaly is when the vital organs grow
outside of the baby; Primary childrens hospital has had to operate on a fetus which its intestines
grew out of its body. Their goal is to decrease pre-term births. Help pregnant moms and infants
live a healthy life from the beginning to the end.
WHO: Select Health Diabetes and Heart Failure Care Manager Patricia

WHAT: Patricia talked to us about Diabetes. A scary statistic is that 8 out of 10 americans will
get diabetes. Some factors are weight and age. There are two types of diabetes. Type 1, which is
the lack of Insulin. And Type 2 is when you have sufficient insulin but it doesnt work. Insulin is
very important because it helps digest food and turn it into energy. People with type 1 diabetes
inject themselves with insulin. Most people who have prediabetes (high blood glucose levels) do
not have any symptoms. But those who have the disease have higher blood glucose, they are
thirsty and hungry, pee frequently, feel weak, and have blurred vision. Most people who are
diabetic are overweight, but not all.
The condition is discovered through testing that measures blood glucose levels. Diabetes is a
life-long disease that can cause problems throughout your body. Patricia said its like the domino
effect, one thing leads to the other and if you dont help yourself it will push you down. Some
trends that have to do with diabetes are, if your grandma and mother have diabetes you will have
a higher chance of getting it. Kids around the ages of 8 to 14 have diabetes due to their food
choices. And college students from the ages of 18 to 21 have diabetes because college is stressful
and they eat unhealthy from the stress. Alcohol is also fattening so thats a problem for many.
There is a genetic component to developing diabetes. If a pregnant mother had diabetes the child
is likely to be born with diabetes. Another crazy fact is that the babys blood sugar is twice the
mothers. Blacks, Hispanics, Polynesians, and American-Indians are ethnic groups that have been
diagnosed with diabetes more than others.
She believes that technology has played a role in people becoming overweight. Sitting disease is
a real thing. People are becoming lazy and inactive. Diabetes hinders ones life. Its also
expensive. An average of 300 to 500 dollars is spent monthly for insulin. Some people are born
with diabetes, others develop it along the way, but there are ways to stay free from diabetes.
Eating healthy is number one. Your body needs at least 120 carbohydrates a day in order for the
brain to function properly. Sleep helps as well because your body needs to rejuvenate and relax.
Eating small portions is encouraged and exercise is very important. Some people try to eat
healthy and exercise instead of taking insulin shots. But usually insulin shots are the most
effective treatment.
Who: Family and Sports Medicine Doctor, Medical Director Liz Joy.
What: Liz Joy specializes in helping obese or diabetic people enroll in programs that can help
them stay healthy and fit. Dr. Joy informed us on what diabetes is and what her program has to
offer to help people who have diabetes or are obese. If a diabetic or obese person is to join this
program they would lose 5 to 7% of their body weight. This is about ten pounds, but to a diabetic
person this weight can be meaningful. Native Americans, Hispanics, and Polynesians are at the
highest risk of getting diabetes. If people are more informed about this, they can help prevent
diabetes. Dr. Joy talked to us on how her program helps in preventing and informing people
about diabetes, she also wants to try out text messaging to diabetic people to remind them to stay

fit. FitBit is a bracelet and app that can help you stay on track on exercising and staying healthy.
Dr. Joy also talked to us about how having Physical Education (P.E) at schools can help in
preventing kids from getting diabetes. If children get at least 60 minutes of vigorous activity each
day their risk of getting diabetes when they are older can lower dramatically. Dr. Joy talked to us
about how 245 billion U.S dollars each year are spent on the treatment of diabetes. During our
meeting with Liz, she showed us her office and we were very impressed. She did not have a
chair, she had a treadmill!
Dr. Joy has also talked about substance use for Adults and Adolescents. Utah has a high number
of people using prescription medicine to overdose. Dr. Joy said this might happen because the
main religion here emphasizes on no drugs, so these people take painkillers because they think
that since its prescribed by a doctor it should be okay to overdose. Substance use since 20032004 was ranked the highest for non medical use of pain relievers.