HEALTHY EATING & PREVENTION OF DIABETES
Americans are getting more obese by the minute. That’s why the CDC has declared obesity a national epidemic, with far-reaching implications for our country’s health. Obesity and related chronic conditions are most prevalent among Latino populations. Over 77% of Latina women are either overweight or obese.
OUR APPROACH
EHG is using mobile and e-communication technologies to provide health provider groups with tools to help patients adopt healthy eating and shopping behaviors as a way to reduce obesity and prevent diabetes — one of the most common health consequences of obesity. EHG mobile and web programs foster provider and patient communication, incorporate evidence-based prevention practices, use nudges based upon behavioral economics to encourage healthy decision making, and provide additional patient-to-patient support through purposeful online communities.
PROJECTS
HOLA BEBÉ, ADIÓS DIABETES
A disproportionate number of Latina women get gestational diabetes when pregnant, which places them at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life. These women tend to follow a healthy diet once they’re diagnosed with gestational diabetes, only to abandon it after the baby is born. We’ve created a unique, integrated, interactive system that makes it easy to keep healthy eating and exercise as part of the busy lives of moms after their babies are born, keeping at-risk women on the right track to prevent diabetes in the future. The Holabebe app is culturally-tailored, guided by theory, and filled with action plans, shopping tips, recipes, at-home exercises, and behavioral support for staying on the path to a diabetes-free future for both mom and baby. The integrated system can be “prescribed” by health providers (e.g. physicians, nurses, nutritionists) and provides opportunities for women to obtain additional support and reinforcement from their health providers.
LISTA
Latina women face many barriers to healthy eating, which has contributed to this population facing the highest rates of obesity in the US.
Our unique Lista app connects Latina women to their primary health care providers while also enabling users to make healthy food purchases at local grocery stores. The approach combines mobile and cloud-based technology, behavioral economics theory, and culturally appropriate design elements. Our goal is to reach as many of the eight million overweight and obese Latina women in the US through their primary care providers.
