title: Specialized care of overweight children in community health centers.
abstract: We have developed a new approach to child obesity that supports the delivery of so-called secondary care-referral-based specialized visits-by primary care teams within community health centers. The Healthy Weight Clinic reorganizes care to provide access to a trained team consisting of a pediatric provider, nutritionist, and case manager during dedicated weight management visits. Our model improves obesity care by promoting local specialization and increasing capacity for specialized care; building multidisciplinary teams within primary care; focusing on health behavior change as a critical determinant of chronic disease outcomes; and using health information technology to promote high-quality care.
authors.affiliation: Boston Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Shikha.Anand@bmc.org
authors.forename: Shikha G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Anand
authors.forename: William G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: Barry S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Zuckerman
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services; D003151:Community Health Centers; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D009765:Obesity / Q000628:therapy*; D050177:Overweight / Q000628:therapy; D010348:Patient Care Team; D018802:Patient-Centered Care; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods; D013038:Specialization