Holistic Nutrition for Community Health Care Providers: Strategies for Empowering Patients
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Authors
Olsson, Leslie
Issue Date
2011
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The rates of diet-related chronic disease among low-income populations are higher than the general population. Doctors, who are often poor people's only healthcare contact, do not have the nutrition education to effectively guide their patients to a healthier lifestyle. The paper is a proposal and outline for a holistic nutrition reference manual for community health providers. Doctors do not receive much, if any, nutrition education during medical school. What they
receive is often combined into another course, and doctors do not recognize it as nutrition. Once they are out of medical school, there is little reinforcement of the nutrition education they receive. Registered dieticians, CME courses, and other nutrition books do not meet the needs of caring for a low-income population. In addition to educating doctors in nutrition, the manual Holistic Nutrition for Community Health Care Providers also covers how doctors can effectively counsel patients in a collaborative approach and provides doctors with handouts to copy and distribute to their patients. The different sections of the book include why this book is important and how to use it, what is in a healthy diet, a review of the digestive tract, nutritional biochemistry, nutrition through the lifecycle, dietary and nutraceutical solutions for health problems, prescription drugs, and supplements, Health at Every Size, respecting cultural foods, enacting change in patients, tips for change, and handouts for patients.