Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Improving Nutrition Education And Access To Healthy Food For Low-Income Mainers, Jessica Wyn

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Many people in Androscoggin county are not able to consistently achieve a diet with the recommended food variety for improving health. Adequate nutrition for improving health outcomes requires access to healthy food at affordable prices, health literacy regarding diet and nutrition concepts, and the skills and access to equipment required to prepare and store food. A lack of resources in any one of these areas can limit a person’s ability to engage in a healthy diet, which increases their risk of developing preventable non-communicable diseases later in life.

Nutritional Support For Oncology Patients: Role For The Pcp, Annabelle S. Feist

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Adequate nutrition is a key prognostic factor in the treatment outcomes of patients with cancer diagnoses. Despite the increased morbidity and mortality of malnutrition, the importance of nutrition for oncology patients is often not well communicated and not well understood by patients. Part of this issue stems from the limited information most patient can absorb at any given doctors appointment, especially regarding their cancer. Primary care providers hold a unique position to fill this gap and have the information be heard and retained given their usual role in addressing overall health. This project compiles resources in an easily accessible and …

Trust Your Gut: Promoting Gut Health Through Updated Nutrition Education, Christina Cobb

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Physician time and nutrition education are limited, yet lifestyle changes, including healthy eating, are often the primary intervention for both preventing & managing chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes. There is growing evidence of the importance of gut health & the microbiome’s link to several aspects of health, including the immune system, mental health, and metabolic syndrome. Through collaboration with two dietitians, a "promoting gut health" patient handout was created and existing nutrition handouts were updated to reflect current dietary recommendations.

Accessibility Of Nutritious And Healthy Foods To Older Adults, Kristen Wright

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Food insecurity rates are high among older adults who have chronic conditions and/or are homebound. These patients have functional limitations, comorbidities limiting their mobility, and often are socially isolated or live alone, all of which impact their ability to access or make healthy meals. As food insecurity rises, so do the health care costs related to inaccessibility to healthy food, involving the increased risk or prevalence of chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and cancer. This project aimed to understand the barriers older adults face in accessing and making healthy meals, and to educate health care providers and patients on recognizing …

Healthy Living In Washington County, Colleen Mccarthy

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

No abstract provided.

Dashing Into A Healthier Life, Megan N. Eubank

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Almost half of all US adults have hypertension (high blood pressure), which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Hypertension can be controlled through a combination of diet, exercise, and medications. The DASH diet has been proven to lower blood pressure in as little as two weeks. I created a brochure and Epic SmartPhrase that explains and simplifies the DASH diet for patients.

Nutritional Barriers For Patients With Diabetes: A Quality Improvement Project, Emma C. Levine, Taylor D. Marquis

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The goal of this study was to look at health care providers perspectives on what the nutritional barriers patients with diabetes faced and compare that with the patient's perspectives. We also assessed patients knowledge on certain foods and if they have carbohydrates. We used this information to create a Notecard that could be given to patients.

Family Medicine Community Project, Daniel Castro

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The goal of this project is to improve diet and nutrition literacy in the community. Though Vermont ranks low in the US in terms of obesity, it is still estimated the 60% of Vermonters are either overweight or obese. This represents an area of need in terms of improving diet and nutrition education to combat obesity, the health issues it produces, and the subsequent strain on the medical system

Nutritional Habits: Encouraging Simplicity And Consistency, Alim Esemenli

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Nutrition plays a crucial role in development of diseases that are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the Unites States. However, due to reasons such as time limitations, lack of clear guidelines, and what seems like a sense of hopelessness felt by providers and patients alike upon lack of results, discussions around nutrition may lack in frequency, consistency, and/or adequacy of duration, Research shows that flexibility of mindset, as well as achievability and sustainability of nutritional goals, play a key role in achieving success in weight This project proposes a three-page document that can potentially help primary care …

Easily Digestible: Addressing Food Literacy With Short Educational Videos, Kalle J. Fjeld

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Food literacy is the knowledge and skills needed to select and prepare food as well as determine food intake. These skills are necessary for a healthy diet, which is a major contributing factor to chronic disease prevention and management. People with diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease can have great benefit from improving diet quality through increasing at-home food preparation and consumption of fruits and vegetables. In partnership with a Food Farmacy pilot program at Hudson Headwaters Health Network in Glens Falls, NY this project sought to use web-based food literacy education for a population of 40 patients with …

Raising Awareness About The Vermont Donor Milk Center, Rosie Friedman, Emi Eakin

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The Vermont Donor Milk Center (VDMC) is an emerging community resource that provides donated, pasteurized breast milk to new parents for their infants. Upon questioning, we identified that many providers did not know about the VDMC or how to prescribe milk. In addition, VDMC expressed that they have not been able to complete the community outreach they had initially hoped for. We chose to dedicate our project to disseminating information about VDMC to perinatal care providers in Vermont.

Assessing The Need And Desire For Nutritional Education, Marc Robert Hammond

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Many people suffer from health conditions that may be affected directly by diet and nutrition including diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, iron deficiency anemia, obesity, coronary artery disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Education of providers and patients alike may help decrease the prevalence of these health issues and their sequalae. The St. Albans Community has slightly poorer health and nutrition when compared to the entire state of Vermont. Patients in an outpatient primary care clinic in St. Albans, VT were provided with a survey that would assess:

The patient’s confidence in their nutritional skills and knowledge

Their willingness to go to a nutrition …

The "Best Snacks Ever" Series, Catherine M. Westbom

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Vermont rates of obesity jump from 15.1% 10-17 year-old children to 27.5% in adults. In addition, studies show that keeping weight off is incredibly difficult with low success rates. Of the many factors that contribute to obesity, nutrition is among those that can be altered with great results. Taken in combination, this information speaks to the great change that can be made in targeting healthy eating habits in the youth population prior to the jump in obesity rates. This project aims to provide education to the child population in Montpelier, Vermont through the local Step 2 after-school program. A class …

Food Label Made Easy, Hanaa Shihadeh

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The use of food labels and adherence to dietary recommendations are important, especially for those with chronic diseases due to the well known relation between chronic disease and poor nutritional habits. Although food labeling has been introduced since 1994 with the aim of combating obesity and diet-related chronic disease in the USA, the rates of food label use among US adults have decreased over the past decade.

Discovering Healthy Eating Habits, Sunit K. Misra

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Children who are unsupervised after school are most likely to get involved with activities that negatively affect their outcomes as an adult. This project seeks to engage children by adding value to an after school program. These programs help build lifelong skills. More specifically this focused on nutritional health of elementary school aged children.

Bridging The Gap: Putting Nutrition Knowledge Into Practice, Monica Rodgers

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Obesity is highly prevalent and has overwhelmingly been shown to negatively impact health outcomes for patients. Poor dietary habits are an important contributor to obesity. Formal interviews with local healthcare providers and informal interviews with patients indicated a need for resources for patients who have already completed nutrition education classes or already have the knowledge they need but are unable to implement it to regularly prepare nutritious meals at home. A book of nutritious, filling recipes adapted to include many vegetables, low added sodium, and relatively inexpensive ingredients was compiled for health care professionals to provide to this target population …

Promoting Health Literacy About Added Sugars, With A Focus On Patients With Limited English Proficiency, Megan Kawasaki

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Excess consumption of added sugars has been linked to the development of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. The sequelae of such health conditions accrue significant public health costs - both in terms of healthcare spending as well as associated co-morbidities and mortality. Chittenden County, Vermont is home to at least 6,300 new Americans, many of whom have limited English proficiency (LEP). Although office visits can provide crucial advice regarding proper nutrition, written resources available for LEP patients are lacking. This project aimed to meet that need through development of an infographic-rich handout that both promotes healthier grocery store choices and …

Nutrition And Exercise Resources For Clinton County, Paige M. Wood

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

The obesity epidemic is a nation wide problem that has increased prevalence in Clinton County, NY when compared to the surrounding areas. Obesity leads to many co-morbid health conditions and is associated with a large increase in health care spending costs. This brochure tackles the limited resources, such as limited number of fitness centers, lack of nutrition education and an overall lower socioeconomic status, that is present in the Clinton County area. This brochure offers help in these areas through free phone applications which cover nutrition education, healthy shopping guidance, at home exercise routines, motivation, habit trackers and mindfulness exercises.

Health Care Shares: Vermont Community Wellness Through A Farm To Patient Collaboration, Lindsay S. Howe

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Food insecurity in Vermont has increased over the past decade, with nearly 85,000 Vermonters struggling to provide adequate amounts of food for their families during the past year. Families living in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont have higher rates of food insecurity than those in urban settings. Unfortunately, when families are living with or threatened with food insecurity, they often rely on cheaper, processed foods that have a longer shelf life than fresh produce. This is likely contributing to the increase in obesity and chronic health conditions such as diabetes. Programs such as Health Care Share aim to combat food …

Nutrition, Diabetes And Misconceptions, Kristen M. Dalton

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

One of the most effective ways to assist patients with diabetes is to empower them to manage their diabetes through lifestyle change. However, figuring out what to eat when you have diabetes can be very confusing. This project attempted to provide simple lifestyle changes patients could make.

Regulating Kids' Meals To Combat Childhood Obesity, Y-Lan Khuong

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Obesity is an epidemic crossing genders, ages, socioeconomic status, geography, and race/ethnicity. In Vermont, 11.3% of 10 to 17-year old are considered obese, thereby increasing risk for numerous health issues. One contributing factor is an increased tendency to eat away from home. This project aims to provide qualitative evidence regarding response to policy setting nutritional standards for kids' meals in Vermont restaurants.

Barriers To Healthy Eating Among The Senior Populations In Brookfield, Ct, Yueyue Shen

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

In the U.S, the cost of diseases associated with unhealthy eating reaches $157 billion a year. In the Western Connecticut area, hypertension and diabetes are the top two reasons for admitting seniors to the hospital. Both of them can be managed by healthy diet and exercise. This project aims to identify the barriers to eating healthy among elderly in Brookfield, CT, and to discuss potential interventions that can be implanted to address the identified barriers.

Energy, Nutrition, And Exercise: An Effort To Prevent Childhood Obesity In Vermont, Eric Franklin Bennett

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Childhood obesity is an epidemic in the United States affecting 17% of all children. In Vermont 12.5% of children are obese. This carries increased risk for many health problems and an increased cost of medical care averaging $19,000 per obese child over a lifetime. This project aims to teach children about healthy food choices and exercise.

Improving Healthy Habits In Berlin, Vt, Amy I. Triano

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

A significant percentage of patient’s at Berlin Family Practice have diagnoses of Type II Diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and/or obesity. Essential to treatment and management of these conditions are a healthy diet and exercise. There are many local and national resources available but no single place where patient’s can find links to national as well as local resources in the Central Vermont community. There is also insufficient time for physicians or nurses to counsel patients on relevant resources. This project involved creation of a website with community and national resources for healthy living that providers could refer patients to. A …

Getting Real About Food: "Fed Up" & Nutrition Education, Hillary Anderson

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Getting Real About Food: “Fed Up” & Nutrition Education is a summary presentation designed to help facilitate discussion about the U.S. food industry and its impact on the American diet. The Grace Cottage Community Health team identified the 2014 documentary “Fed Up” as a critical learning tool to enhancing their community education programs for patients, providers, and staff members; this project focuses on summarizing key points and statistics as well as highlighting opportunities for pilot-testing and implementation across different community venues.

Slow Foods For Health Increasing Knowledge Of Glycemic Index In Adolescents For Healthier Food Choices, Meredith Kayleigh Sooy

Family Medicine Clerkship Student Projects

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions through the United States affect all age groups, genders, and races. This is especially troubling in the pediatric population where 12.5 million children were found to be overweight in 2010. Many adolescents have inadequate knowledge of nutrition basics to make healthy choices. Based on interviews within the community of Colchester, VT a need for information about the glycemic index was seen. A handout geared towards adolescents was created with information about the glycemic index and using this information to make healthy food choices. This handout was made available to all providers of Colchester Family Practice …