UIC Department of Medicine Section of Health Prmotion Research

The Heath Promotion Research Program develops interventions that promote healthy lifestyles and tests these interventions in the community, especially among populations disproportionately burdened with chronic disease.

Obesity increases the risk and complications of many diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers. Effective programs that reduce obesity, which affects one in five American adults, will benefit communities greatly.

The HPRP is a part of the Institute for Health Research and Policy housed at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The program is supported by the UIC Department of Medicine's Section of Health Promotion Research and the Center for Management of Complex Chronic Care of the Jesse Brown Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Researchers in this program engage churches, health care providers and many living or working in or near the UIC neighborhood.

Directing the program is Marian Fitzgibbon, professor of medicine and health policy and administration, and IHRP's deputy director.

Researchers in the Health Promotion Research Program currently aim to:

• Learn how health status, cultural factors and perceived vulnerability for secondary cancers and other health risks might influence the health behaviors of adults who were treated for cancer as children.
• Improve the health of these adults by developing and testing an intervention to help them be more active in their relationship with their physician as a way to improve their health and lessen the secondary effects of their cancer treatments.
• Reduce obesity among children by developing and testing a nutrition and physical activity curriculum in preschool classrooms.
• Improve the control of diabetes among African American and Latino adults by testing an intervention that integrates health promoters in clinic-based pharmacy services to promote medication adherence and healthier lifestyles.
• Improve the diet of low-income children by evaluating the effect of changes in the WIC program.

As part of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Health Promotion Research Program nurtures investigators, from sponsoring post-doctorate fellows to supporting their pursuit of career development grants or their first research project grants from the National Institutes of Health.