Family-based Lifestyle Intervention Program (FLIP)

Loyola University Chicago public health researchers have received a $500,000 grant from the George M. Eisenberg Foundation for Charities, based in Arlington Heights, Ill., for a 10-year study to improve the health of low-income minority residents in communities surrounding Loyola’s Health Sciences Campus in Maywood. 

A better understanding of how to meaningfully effect lifestyle/behavior change among low-income, underserved populations is a cornerstone of public health research. The communities within Loyola University Health System catchment area suffer from high prevalences of largely preventable, chronic diseases. 

Using the ecological perspective and components from the social cognitive theory, Loyola University in collaboration with Dominican University, is evaluating the efficacy and cost effectiveness of a family-based lifestyle intervention program among low-income African American (AA) and Hispanic/Latino families. This family-based lifestyle intervention program promotes the adoption of healthy lifestyles including regular exercise, healthy eating and adequate use of preventive care, and assists families in navigating the health care system.

The most significant outcome of this will be to modify public health approaches to chronic disease. This impact may be made at the local, hospital/healthcare system-level to the community-level and above.