Online program for obesity and obesity related disorders
PWLS is a company that uses internet technology to deliver treatment for obesity and obesity related disorders.
About You
About You
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Practical Weight Loss Solutions
Organization Website
Organization Country
United States, IL, Calumet City, Cook County
Country where this project is creating social impact
United States
Is your organization a
For‐profit
How long has your organization been operating?
1‐5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
No
References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each
Linda J Milenkovski, MBA: Linda has more than 25 years of Financial Management experience with several healthcare organizations. She became an ardent supporter of the PWLS concept after achieving success with it.
email: milenkovski@comcast.net
Tel: (219) 688-7370
Tope Adedara, MBA,CPA: Tope is a business consultant and auditor with a background in engineering. Tope became a founding partner in PWLS after he modified his lifestyle and lost weight with the PWLS concept.
email: tope.adedara@krystalconsultinginc.com
Tel: (847)560-1145
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Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Start-Up (a pilot that has just begun operating)
How long have you been in operation?
Operating for 1‐5 years
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
Obesity and obesity related disorders continue to be a world wide problem. Consequences of obesity include heart disease, stroke, non-insulin dependent diabetes, and certain cancers like breast, endometrial, colon and prostate cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), obesity has doubled worldwide since 1980. 1.5 billion adults are overweight and almost 43 million children under the age of 5 were overweight in 2010. Of the 1.5 billion overweight adults, more than 200 million men and over 300 million women are obese. Obesity and obesity related disorders continue to increase worldwide despite education, meal replacements and drugs to treat diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
The conventional wisdom of limiting calories, fats, carbohydrates and sugar has not done much to control the obesity epidemic as evidenced by WHO and CDC statistics. This in our opinion, suggests that the underlying concepts of obesity treatment are likely flawed which is why all the current treatment keep producing the same results i.e. increased prevalence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease etc. Our proposed solution is to educate people about food choices and change the focus from calories and fat. Our solution discourages dieting but instead educates people about making better food choices based on the individual preferences. The solution is web-based and provides access to trained practitioners. Each person gets an individualized plan based on their response to a comprehensive health questionnaire. The program is interactive and patient centered. Each participant will be provided a scale and blood pressure to obtain and input their individual measurements into the system.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
Each participant logs on to a secure website and completes a comprehensive health questionnaire including a detailed nutritional history. In addition he or she will provide measurements including height, weight, body fat, body water and blood pressure measurements. A trained health practitioner (physician or mid-level) provider reviews the information and categorizes the foods into 3 main categories. An individualized report is generated based on the information provided. The report includes education about the pathophysiology of obesity, morbidity and cancer risks, reading food labels, recommendations for routine health screening and how to attain a proper balance with food choices based on our protocol. The program makes nutritional suggestions based on individual food choices, which makes it adaptable to any ethnic or geographical location worldwide. Our program acknowledges the importance of physical activity in achieving and maintaining weight loss. We obtain information on patient's current activity level and use it to provide an individualized activity plan. In addition, the clinicians advise the patients on age and sex specific routine health care so they can discuss it with their Primary Care Providers if not done yet. The clients would provide us with the results if and when done. We know that one of the problems with other programs is their one size fits all approach which may not be practical so our clients receive an individualized plan based on their age, sex, activity level and medical issues.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
Our competitors are commercial weight loss programs like weight watchers, nutrisystem and food companies that specialize in developing low calorie/low fat foods and meal replacements. We are different from them in that we encourage people to eat foods that are locally available to them. We do not sell or endorse any processed food products and actually discourage their use. The challenge is that we do not have the capital to advertise like the major market players do. We expect negative campaigning against our solution because it challenges conventional wisdom and practice. Our concept has proven successful in a medical weight loss practice. We encourage our patients to obtain blood tests to show the improvements in their blood sugar and cholesterol in addition to their appearance.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.
I became interested in obesity and obesity related disorders in 2007 because I realized that standard medical treatments for obesity diabetes, high cholesterol and heart disease were not very effective. I started my bariatric practice with a focus on counting calories, carbohydrates, fat and sugar. In 2010, I had a patient who stopped losing weight have faithfully following the program. She kept very detailed records and categorized everything she ate, so I could not convince myself that she was non-compliant. While trying to figure out what to tell her, I drew a pie chart and realized that the ratio of what she ate after 3 months in the program was exactly the same as it was when she started. I realized that the ratio and quality of the foods made a bigger difference than calories. I have also observed that processed foods have a more negative impact on obesity and health compared to fat or calories.
Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve
Our goal is to offer a practical solution for weight loss and the treatment of obesity related disorders. The program is designed to be practical, simple, economical and effective. We want it to be adaptable worldwide and give people an opportunity to still eat the foods they like while educating them about the negative health consequences of certain foods. We are discouraging diet because many dieters have difficulty maintaining weight loss. We want to help reduce the prevalence and consequences of obesity worldwide by evidence-based unbiased information. We want to offer our services to more people than just those who come to our medical practice. We stress the importance of effective Physical activity plan with a goal of 150 minutes or more per week at moderate 0r higher intensity.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
We have been able to help people lose weight and maintain the weight loss. In addition, we have many patients ho have improved their diabetes, heart disease, cholesterol, arthritis, blood pressure and overall health. People have been more willing to obtain screening tests like pap smears, mammograms and colonoscopies when they have been educated about their increased risks for morbidity and mortality from these diseases because of obesity. Blood tests to check kidney and liver function have shown that our intervention does not have a negative effect. We have seen a growth in referrals from patients and other providers that we are unable to see all the patients, which is why we developed the online solution.
What is your projected impact over the next five years?
Over the next 5 years, we project that our online solution will have at least 5000 active users as we have more success stories. We expect that their will be studies designed to prove or disprove our theory and concept. As more evidence emerges to confirm our findings, the focus of obesity treatment will shift from what is acceptable today. The use of appropriate technology would be vital in providing services for our clients. We plan to work with other health care providers as a site where they refer patients than have BMI in the obese range for assistance. In addition to helping with obesity and its related health related problems that lead to increased morbidity, our clinicians will identify patients that lack routine preventive healthcare. These clients would be advised accordingly.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
Get media exposure
Task 2
Sign up atleast 500 active users
Task 3
Develop mobile app
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
Collect and analyze data about participants
Task 2
Partner with and integrate software with other providers
Task 3
Develop program specific questions and improve useability of software
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
There are currently four partners in this business venture:
1. Adeyemi Fatoki, MD. Medical Director
2. Olawale Akinosun. CEO
3. Akin Fatoki, MD. Medical Director
4. Babatope Adedara. CFO
Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?
We are targeting people who have tried other commercial weight loss programs without success and are ready for a change. In addition, we are targeting people with poorly controlled non-insulin dependent diabetes, hypertension,
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
It is web-based and convenient. The work schedule is flexible for our providers and members. Members can obtain evidence-based information and feedback at the comfort of their home. Providers can provide care at their convenience using the PWLS protocol and software that is about 60% automated.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
As a start up internet company, our biggest need is to spread the word about our product. Once we get the initial exposure, we believe the success of our members will fuel our growth.
 | 15 weeks agoAdeyemi Fatoki updated this Competition Entry. |
| 15 weeks agoAdeyemi Fatoki updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAdeyemi Fatoki updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoAdeyemi Fatoki updated this Competition Entry. |
| 17 weeks agoAdeyemi Fatoki updated this Competition Entry. |
| 17 weeks agoAdeyemi Fatoki submitted this idea. |
