Newsroom
Project Lifestyle Change: A New Program to Study and Treat Prediabetes
Participants will receive free group education, support and follow-up from educators and staff at Rush Oak Park Hospital.
Oak Park, IL
(May 20, 2010) —
Rush Oak Park Hospital is excited to launch Project Lifestyle Change, a new program that aims to promote community health and prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes by educating and treating individuals diagnosed with prediabetes.
More than 24 million Americans have diabetes and more than twice that many have prediabetes. In large part due to unhealthy lifestyle choices, including poor food choices and lack of physical activity, more children and young adults are developing these conditions.
A prediabetes diagnosis can be an opportunity to make lifestyle changes that can help to reverse the condition and prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes—a manageable but noncurable and costly chronic disease. However, many insurance plans do not cover education programs for people with prediabetes.
Project Lifestyle Change would provide participants with free group education, support and follow-up to help them make those changes to get their health back on course.
Rush Oak Park Hospital will host five free A1C screenings this summer, and will invite individuals diagnosed with prediabetes to participate in the 12-month program. Participants will go through four weeks of group education on blood glucose monitoring, restricted-calorie meal planning, exercise and behavior modification, followed by five months of group follow-up and support. Through a partnership with Fitness Premier, participants will receive two personal training sessions and a free three-month membership to Fitness Premier Melrose Park.
At the end of six months, Rush Oak Park Hospital again will screen participants for A1C. A follow-up phone call will be made three months later, and participants will be invited back 12 months after they start the program for a final group support session and A1C draw.
Staff will compare results of A1C levels and weight loss from before and after the program. If participants demonstrate improvement in these areas after completing the program, Rush Oak Park Hospital will use Project Lifestyle Change as an affordable model for ongoing prediabetes education and support for the prevention of Type 2 diabetes.
You may be at risk of prediabetes if you are overweight, above the age of 57, a minority, or have hypertension, a family history of diabetes and/or have had gestational diabetes. Please consider joining Rush Oak Park Hospital for a free screening:
• Thursday, June 3, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rush Oak Park Hospital Medical Arts Building
500 S. Maple Ave., Auditorium
• Monday, June 14, 3 to 5 p.m.
Fitness Premier Melrose Park
2225 W. North Ave., Melrose Park
• Wednesday, June 23, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Rush Medical Office Building
610 S. Maple Ave., Room 2000
• Tuesday, July 27, 6 to 7 p.m.
Rush Medical Office Building
610 S. Maple Ave., Room 2000
• Wednesday, Aug. 11, 9 to 10 a.m.
Rush Medical Office Building
610 S. Maple Ave., Room 2000
Registration is required. Call 708-660-INFO (4636) to register.
For more information, please contact Emily Dagostino in Marketing and Communications at 708-660-3644.
More than 24 million Americans have diabetes and more than twice that many have prediabetes. In large part due to unhealthy lifestyle choices, including poor food choices and lack of physical activity, more children and young adults are developing these conditions.
A prediabetes diagnosis can be an opportunity to make lifestyle changes that can help to reverse the condition and prevent the development of Type 2 diabetes—a manageable but noncurable and costly chronic disease. However, many insurance plans do not cover education programs for people with prediabetes.
Project Lifestyle Change would provide participants with free group education, support and follow-up to help them make those changes to get their health back on course.
Rush Oak Park Hospital will host five free A1C screenings this summer, and will invite individuals diagnosed with prediabetes to participate in the 12-month program. Participants will go through four weeks of group education on blood glucose monitoring, restricted-calorie meal planning, exercise and behavior modification, followed by five months of group follow-up and support. Through a partnership with Fitness Premier, participants will receive two personal training sessions and a free three-month membership to Fitness Premier Melrose Park.
At the end of six months, Rush Oak Park Hospital again will screen participants for A1C. A follow-up phone call will be made three months later, and participants will be invited back 12 months after they start the program for a final group support session and A1C draw.
Staff will compare results of A1C levels and weight loss from before and after the program. If participants demonstrate improvement in these areas after completing the program, Rush Oak Park Hospital will use Project Lifestyle Change as an affordable model for ongoing prediabetes education and support for the prevention of Type 2 diabetes.
You may be at risk of prediabetes if you are overweight, above the age of 57, a minority, or have hypertension, a family history of diabetes and/or have had gestational diabetes. Please consider joining Rush Oak Park Hospital for a free screening:
• Thursday, June 3, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Rush Oak Park Hospital Medical Arts Building
500 S. Maple Ave., Auditorium
• Monday, June 14, 3 to 5 p.m.
Fitness Premier Melrose Park
2225 W. North Ave., Melrose Park
• Wednesday, June 23, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Rush Medical Office Building
610 S. Maple Ave., Room 2000
• Tuesday, July 27, 6 to 7 p.m.
Rush Medical Office Building
610 S. Maple Ave., Room 2000
• Wednesday, Aug. 11, 9 to 10 a.m.
Rush Medical Office Building
610 S. Maple Ave., Room 2000
Registration is required. Call 708-660-INFO (4636) to register.
For more information, please contact Emily Dagostino in Marketing and Communications at 708-660-3644.
