Professional Research PresentationFor my clinical professional research project, I chose to present on the topic of Older Adult Nutrition and Geriatric Failure to Thrive. Throughout my rotation at Queen's Medical Center, I witnessed a large number of patients who were malnourished, most of them being older adults. I wanted to further explore the reasonings behind why this population group is often undernourished and the role that nutrition professionals can play in the prevention or treatment of this condition.
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Oncology Snack MenuAs part of my food service rotation at Queens Medical Center, I created a snack menu specifically designed for our cancer patients. These patients are routinely admitted and need additional snack/food choices to select from. I developed a menu based on the food items our hospital already had in stock, and presented the menu to the oncology nursing staff, food service managers and clinical nutrition manager. I also provided them with samples of smoothies I made using nutritional supplements. I also presented samples to a few of the patients, and received overall positive consensus about the food. This is an ongoing project, and the next step is to test additional food items from the menu and make further adjustments as necessary.
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National Nutrition MonthFor National Nutrition Month, I created an interactive display board to present during lunch hours at the Queen's Medical Center cafeteria. The display board included a “healthy refrigerator” where I had participants organize a refrigerator: healthier foods (fruits, vegetables etc.) in high visible places and less healthy foods hidden in drawers (dessert, soft drinks, etc.) The board also featured a MyPlate icon and tips on including whole grains, lean protein, fruits, vegetables and dairy into the diet. It gave spectators a simple visual on how they should be generally constructing their plate. There were also healthy tips posted on the board, such as eating breaking, reading food labels, watching portion sizes, and making healthy snacks.
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Blue Zones Cooking DemonstrationBlue Zones is a community wide well-being initiative to help make healthy choices easier in Hawaii. One of the many services they offer are cooking demonstrations, and I was able to conduct a simple, healthy plant-based lesson for employees at EUTF (Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund) Program. I made zucchini noodles with pesto, a berry parfait smoothie and provided the audience with samples.
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Senior Presentation
During my rotation with the National Kidney Foundation Hawaii, I had the opportunity to present to senior citizens at the Waikiki Community Health Center. I decided to discuss general information about healthy eating, physical activity, reading food labels, portion sizes and hone in on salt content of foods because of the prevalence of hypertension in older adults.
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Way of Life Program
Way of Life provides youth and their families with a supportive community environment to learn about nutrition, physical activity, mindfulness techniques and methods to overcome barriers when adopting healthy lifestyle recommendations. Displayed here are three of the lesson plans I developed for the youth curriculum.
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