Bariatric Support Group

The live, interactive support group will be only for UF Health Shands Metabolic and Bariatric Program patients. Each meeting will offer an educational topic followed by an opportunity for patients to share their success and pitfalls with fellow attendees. There is no charge for attending the meeting, although registration and approval is required each month.

Those welcome to attend our bariatric support groups:

Bariatric surgery investigators seeking information and the “real-story”
Pre-op patients waiting for bariatric surgery
Early post-op patients or “newbies”
Long-term veteran patients to support others and just checking in
Back on trackers seeking to re-lose pounds
Friends or family members
Professionals-medical or other

While we do limit our attendance to registered people, please do consider this a public forum. The expectation is that this is a safe space to share. What we share here should be kept private. However, UF Health cannot guarantee that a group member will not share information you choose to share. To help keep information private, we do not record the Zoom sessions. If you're interested in attending, please email Gwen Crispell at hasseg@shands.ufl.edu. You may also want to check out OCEANS, the adolescent support group.

Dates

Every third Thursday of every odd month

Time

Noon EST

Topics

Virtual: January 23, 2025 "Protein Snack Foods"
Virtual: March 20, 2025: "Preparing for Surgery"
In person: March 20, 2025 "Dillard’s Event" (time TBD)
Virtual: May 15, 2025 "Psychology Power Half Hour"
Virtual: July 17, 2025 "Diet Trends and the Latest Protein Supplements"
Virtual: Sept 18, 2025: "Vitamin and Mineral Needs After Surgery"
Virtual Nov 20, 2025: "What Are Your Tips for Long-Term Success?"

Registration

Registration via Zoom is required for virtual meetings.

Contact

Please contact Gwen Crispell, MSN, RN, CBN, UF Health bariatric coordinator, for further questions, concerns or topics of interest at hasseg@shands.ufl.edu or (352) 265-0111 x29634.