HEALTHY LIFESTYLE COUNSELING

Programs for Patients & Communities

The Vitoux Program has joined forces with Golden Connections, which is a collaboration between the UIC College of Pharmacy (Rockford), the UIC College of Medicine (Rockford), and the UIC College of Medicine (Chicago) that trains pre-health, pharmacy, and medical students to mitigate social isolation in older adults. Golden Connection is a unique intervention program in which student volunteers and older adults paired by a community service agency forge relationships through a longitudinal phone-based outreach program. This easy-to-implement program provides another layer of support to identify and refer issues that impact social determinants of health among older adults. Volunteers have been able to gain the trust of the older adults they speak to and identify key problems they are facing like food insecurity, medical concerns, safety, and have alerted the necessary departments to make changes in their lives. It helps reduce social isolation and promote the well-being of older adults in Illinois. This program also reinforces the reciprocal nature of volunteering and highlights that each person does have the ability to make an impact. A UIC story about Golden Connection can be found here UIC College of Pharmacy and College of Medicine teach students how to be “Good Neighbors”.

For more information, contact us at: [email protected].  

The Vitoux Behavioral Health Counseling Program (VITAL) provides counseling support for patients with depression, obesity and/or who are at risk for developing diabetes. The program is delivered by experienced Health Coaches certified in two evidence-based programs: the Group Lifestyle Balance Program (GLB) and the Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives (PEARLS). The GLB program is a CDC recognized lifestyle change program designed to help individuals make lifestyle changes to both prevent diabetes and prevent or treat the metabolic syndrome by promoting healthy eating and increasing physical activity. The PEARLS program aims to reduce symptoms of depression and improve quality of life by teaching problem-solving skills and empowering clients through behavioral techniques, social and physical activation, and pleasant activity scheduling. Sessions with the Health Coach take place at the University of Illinois South Loop Physicians Group location. Sessions vary in length and may be covered by Medicare or private insurance plans. For more information, contact us at: [email protected].

Coach Training

Coach Training for the Group Lifestyle Balance Program (GLB) can be provided by our experienced Master Coach, Corina Ronneberg. For more information about how to become certified as a GLB Health Coach, please contact us at: [email protected].

INSTRUCTIONS: In order to add a sidebar anchor:

  1. Duplicate the existing item, listed as a 1/6 text field. (Or create a 1/6 column and add a text field, modify the class so it’s exactly “additionalAnchor”).
  2. Modify the text field inside the 1/6 column. Inside there, modify the HYPERLINK so that it would go to a corresponding section with a “#” in front of it. (Example, we have a “chief” section on the page, then it would make sense to have the hyperlink go to “#chief”)
  3. Then change the hyperlink TEXT to a appropriate label.
  4. IMPORTANT: If not done already, go into that CONTAINER that corresponds to your anchor (i.e. Meet The Chiefs), and add an ID matching the anchor’s HYPERLINK WITHOUT the “#”, i.e. “chief”.
  5. (If using side bar widget box, then there’s a saved copy of a widget box COLUMN, grab it in the column library, it should 1/6 of a length of a column.)

NOTE: Order added to the sidebar is from last to first.