Case Study

MIX offers a return on the client’s financial investment in themselves and their health. In general, the amount that a client spends on MIX services, they will see their hard-earned money make its way back into their wallets (in actual dollars saved as well as future cost savings and enhanced quality of life), provided they commit 100% to themselves and the program.

Client Profile – Elizabeth P.
Age: 42
Occupation: Business Owner – Event Planner
Marital Status: Divorced
Children: Ashley, 13 and Jason, 10
Height: 5’ 4”
Weight: 200 lbs
BMI: 34

Personal Health Profile:

• Type 2 Diabetes, High Blood Pressure
• Blood Pressure – 160/90
• HbA1c – 9.2%
• Fasting Blood Sugar – 130

Family Health History:

• Type 2 Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Stroke
• High Blood Pressure
• High Cholesterol

Medications:

• Metformin1,000 mg twice/day (for diabetes)
• Glipizide extended-release, 20 mg/day (for diabetes)
• Captopril, 50 mg twice/day (for high blood pressure)

Elizabeth is a typical overworked, stressed, and time-constrained middle-aged female. Recently divorced, she finds it difficult to manage everything while keeping her kids on schedule with their many extracurricular activities and running a business full-time. Self-care has taken a back seat. After her 40th birthday, she made it a point to get a physical. She was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, both of which run in her family. She was instructed to modify her lifestyle (diet/exercise) and was prescribed medications to manage the diseases. As a business owner, she has a high deductible insurance plan which offers minimal prescription drug coverage, so keeping the medications filled is a financial strain. She has not followed her doctor’s advice to modify her lifestyle, as she doesn’t know where to begin.

Given her busy lifestyle, healthy, home-cooked family dinners are a rarity. She eats fast food much of the time when she’s working and take-out or highly processed and high calorie microwaveable meals are common for dinner. She sleeps about 6 hours/night and finds herself exhausted most of the day. She does not exercise. Her children, while relatively active, are already heading in the direction of overweight status due to their poor diets (including purchasing the notoriously unhealthy school meals for breakfast and lunch), and she fears they will end up with her health ailments at a young age if she doesn’t do something soon.

Pre-MIX Monthly Food/Medication Budget

Expense	Cost
Take-out dinner 5 times/week for family of 3	$500
Grocery budget buying high processed and pre-made microwaveable meals	$400
Breakfast/lunch (fast food) for Elizabeth 5 times/week	$200
School breakfast and lunch 5 times/week for 2 children ($4/day/each child)	$160
Medications Metformin 1000 mg twice/day (Generic)- $36 Glipizide 25 mg/day (Generic) – $12 Captopril 50 mg twice/day (Generic)- $15	$63
Total	$1,323

Elizabeth is fed up. She wants to regain control of her health and that of her children, but doesn’t know where or how to begin. She enlists the help of MIX and commits to 3 months of weekly coaching sessions (total cost = $350).

After a thorough assessment of Elizabeth’s health status and lifestyle, as well as a deep exploration of her goals, MIX and Elizabeth co-design a plan with realistic strategies that help her to lose weight, improve her health, reduce her dependency on medications, improve her energy, and create balance in her life. Each week, Elizabeth and her MIX coach meet to discuss the previous week’s successes, address any challenges, and design goals for the next week.

Elizabeth’s Plan

• Moderate exercise 5 times/week for 30 minutes before work (i.e., walking at 3.5 miles/hr on the treadmill)
• Strength training 3 times/week for 15 minutes before work (DVDs, fitness bands, and stability ball)
• Planning and doing one family activity per week that involves moving (i.e., hiking, biking)
• Taking 30 minutes/week to plan healthy and easy dinners to prepare at home 5 times/week
• Taking 15 minutes/day to prepare healthy lunches for herself and children 5 times/week
• Serving healthy and fast breakfast items at home before school and work 5 times/week

At the end of three months, Elizabeth is thrilled with the results! She has lost weight, feels more energetic, her blood sugar and blood pressure are stabilizing and under control, and her physician has reduced her medication dosages (which she soon plans to be off of completely, with her physician’s clearance). Her new health profile is reason to celebrate!

Personal Health Profile:

• Height – 5’ 4”
• Weight: 180 lbs
• BMI: 31
• Blood Pressure – 140/85
• HbA1c – 8.8%
• Fasting Blood Sugar – 80

Medications:

• Metformin1000 mg daily (for diabetes)
• Glipizide, 10 mg/day (for diabetes)
• Captopril, 50 mg daily (for high blood pressure)

Her monthly budget has also vastly improved.

Post-MIX Monthly Food/Medication Budget

Expense	Cost
Take out or dining out for dinner once/week for family of 3	$160
Grocery budget buying fresh, natural, and minimally processed foods	$800
Medications Metformin 1000 mg twice/day (Generic)- $18 Glipizide 25 mg/day (Generic) – $6 Captopril 50 mg twice/day (Generic)- $8	$32
Total	$992

Elizabeth saw an immediate return on investment from the $325 that she paid for 3 months of MIX services. In one month, the services paid for itself (and then some) in reduced dining and medication costs. Not to mention the future savings in healthcare costs, increased longevity, and enhanced quality of life that she and her children now enjoy as a result of their renewed lifestyle = priceless!

Return on Investment
$1323 (Previous Monthly Budget)
– $992 (Current Monthly Budget)
= $331 (Net Positive Return Between Previous Budget and New Budget)