MD-DHCC Fall Workshop

On Wednesday, October 5th, we were given the opportunity to attend the Maryland Dietetics in Health Care Communities (MD-DHCC) Fall Workshop in Clarksville, MD. The emphasis of this meeting was Long Term Care, a specialty of many members of MD-DHCC.

As a first-time conference goer, I had two goals for this workshop: network and learn. Here's how I accomplished my goals:

1. Network with some of Maryland's finest Registered Dietitians 
I was excited to be in a building full of experienced RDs--people who not only share a common love for nutrition, but who have also been interns before and could provide words of wisdom to current interns. I can happily say that I was not disappointed! The RDs that I had the chance to speak with had nothing but encouraging messages for me and my upcoming career as an RD.

One of the messages that I particularly loved was: "Participate in everything you can during your internship. You may never have some of these opportunities again." I took this message to heart and the following day I made room in my busy schedule at my clinical site to see a Modified Barium Swallow Test!

I will also note that it was initially super overwhelming to be at my first conference. Thankfully, all of the interns were given jobs to perform during the day--like signing guests in, helping with parking, etc. Having a job made it easy for me to introduce myself as an intern and future RD.


2. Absorb information given during the workshop presentations
As I said before, the overarching theme of this workshop was long term care. There was a lot of incredible material presented, all contemporary and relevant to the field of nutrition in long term care. Some of the information I learned includes:

• Nutrition Focused Physical Assessment (NFPA)
  NFPA is a valuable skill for dietitians and is becoming an essential part of the Nutrition Care Process. During this workshop, I learned how to look for and feel for signs of malnutrition, really using a literal hands-on approach to patient care. As you can see in the pictures below, we all had a chance to practice our NFPA skills with a peer. The interns in the pictures are checking their partners for wasting of the temporalis muscle.

Top: Intern Paula assessing intern Ysabel
Bottom: Intern Ben assessing intern Mike

• Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition - Sure, I learned about the basics of tube feedings in my undergrad education, but this lecture told me how nutrition support really works for long term care facilities. Patients and/or patient families can have a say in what is being provided in a tube feeding. Many facilities are making blenderized feedings possible. That's right, tube feeding formula made from blended foods!
  
• Pressure Injuries - Pressure injuries, formerly known as "bed sores" or "pressure ulcers," are a huge concern for long term care. I knew that adequate nutrition, especially protein, is needed to prevent and treat pressure injuries. This presentation taught me that Arginine intake up to 6-9 g/day is now also recommended for patients with higher staged ulcers whose nutritional needs for treatment may not be met through traditional measures.

Overall, I highly enjoyed my first conference experience. I exceeded my goals for networking and learning. I look forward to the next conference in Spring!

FSNE Fall Conference: Technology and Real Food

By: Sasha B. Bard, MSN

Last week all of the dietetic interns had the opportunity to attend and present at the University of Maryland (UMD) Extension 2011 Food Supplement Nutrition Education (FSNE) Fall Conference. The FSNE program employs numerous nutrition educators that work in low-income areas throughout the state. Many of the FSNE educators work in public schools, teaching our children, but there are classes for adults as well. The annual fall conference is an opportunity to get all of the educators, interns, and program organizers in one room to share ideas, network, learn, and discuss the future of FSNE programming. The main focus of this year's fall conference was the use of social media and technology in nutrition education.

One of the highlights was the discussion of public health texting programs. Rebecca Dineen from the Baltimore City Health Department spoke about the Text4Baby program used to promote maternal and infant health. Texting programs are one example of how technology can help health professionals extend a message and reach a larger audience. The UMD Extension FSNE staff revealed their plan to launch a similar text campaign to promote healthy eating and regular exercise. The pilot program will start later this year and targets parents of school-age children.

The other interns and I contributed to the conference by presenting short technology tips throughout the day. My partner, Erika Wincheski, and I presented on Twitter and talked about its benefit for nutrition professionals. Other tech tools presented by our intern class included QR codes, Animoto, Poll Everywhere, and Dropbox. It was great to share our knowledge with the FSNE staff and get them excited about some of the tools we have been learning about in the internship.

We also got to hear Jackie Haven from the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion speak about the launch of MyPlate. She discussed the role that technology has played in the promotion of the new food icon, specifically the online tools and resources available on the choosemyplate.gov website.

The day ended with the viewing of a documentary about school nutrition called Cafeteria Man. The film featured Tony Geraci, a chef and former food-service director of Baltimore City Public Schools, who challenged the school system to redefine its approach on nutrition. He is an advocate for garden based nutrition education and fought to get fresh and local foods into the public schools.

Take away message from the conference: It is a great time to be a nutrition professional!

There is a lot of attention on nutrition right now, in the media, in government, and thanks to the First Lady. Being able to navigate and utilize technology is an important part of working with today’s audience, but it’s not everything. As Tony Geraci might say, a bigger part of our job has to do with getting back to the basics. Grow real food. Eat real food.

Photo: Erika Wincheski (left) and myself, Sasha Bard, playing with MyPlate freebies at the UMD Extension 2011 FSNE Fall Conference.

For more information about:

Maryland Extension FSNE http://www.eatsmart.umd.edu/

Text4Baby http://www.text4baby.org/

Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/

Cafeteria Man http://cafeteriaman.com/

A New Era for Nutrition & Dietetics?

By Angela Farris

The American Dietetic Association is the largest network of nutrition and food experts in the world. Since its inception in 1917, ADA has grown to over seventy thousand members¹. Besides credentialing Registered Dietitians and Dietitian Technicians, ADA publishes a monthly peer-reviewed journal (JADA) and runs a non-profit charity (ADAF) to support research and educational programs in the field.

This year ADA held its annual Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo September 24-27 in San Diego. During the opening remarks ADA's current president Sylvia Escott-Stump announced a name change to the organization – the American Dietetic Association will be the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, effective January 2012.

Why the name change? Changing the name emphasizes a dietitian’s role in overall nutritional health in addition to dietetics. In my opinion, nutrition is also much better understood to most of the population than dietetics. "By adding nutrition to our name, we communicate our capacity for translating nutrition science into healthier lifestyles for everyone. Keeping dietetics supports our history as a food and science-based profession. Thus, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics quickly and accurately communicates our identity—who we are and what we do," said Escott-Stump, ADA president².

A lot goes into a name change – for one, the acronym! No more ADA, which was easily confused with the American Diabetes Association or American Dental Association. Goodbye ADA, hello AND. This new acronym will likely trickle down:

Name Before….& After?

1. Journal of the American Dietetic Association (JADA)…Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (JAND)?
2. Maryland State Dietetic Association (MDA)…the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (MAND)?
3. My alma mater, West Virginia University Student Dietetic Association (WVU-SDA)…West Virginia Student Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (WVU-SAND)?

I asked fellow interns their take on the new name and the overall consensus was positive. I'm curious to see if the name change will influence the structure of the organization. One thing is for sure: it marks a new era for nutrition and dietetics. I feel lucky to be starting my career as a dietitian during this revitalization. What are your opinions on ADA's name change?

References:

¹ADA’s website http://www.eatright.org/joinada/, ²Press Release http://www.eatright.org/Media/content.aspx?id=6442465361