Saint Anthony Hospital
Chicago

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Better Bodies for Better Health is the obesity intervention project of the nurse-managed Center for Diabetes at Saint Anthony Hospital, which serves inner-city residents of Chicago's Little Village and North Lawndale neighborhoods. North Lawndale has one of the highest rates of diabetes in Chicago while Little Village has a remarkably high diabetes mortality rate.

The goal of Better Bodies for Better Health is to decrease the risk of diabetes, obesity/overweight, hypertension and cardiovascular disease among patients of Saint Anthony, which primarily consist of Latino and African-American communities.

Better Bodies promotes healthy lifestyles by using behavioral change theory and a variety of educational and hands-on interventions. The project offers clients six complementary services for health promotion, weight stability and disease prevention:

1. Prevention education for obesity and related co-morbid conditions.
2. Exercise intervention with training and monitoring to positively impact cardiovascular and promote musculoskeletal strength.
3. Counseling to champion goal setting and behavioral change.
4. Hands-on classes in healthy shopping.
5. Case management/care facilitation services for follow up and tracking.
6. Depression screening and intervention.

This comprehensive program was created in response to a significant community need to help with the prevention and management of diabetes. At Saint Anthony, hospital leadership dedicates a portion of their time meeting with civic, education, social service and religious leaders within their service area in order to learn the community needs and how the hospital can best serve those needs. This is just one of the ways Saint Anthony Hospital carries out its mission to live out the loving ministry of Jesus Christ by offering health, healing, and hope to the families of our community.