Learner Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Simulation Training: The Future of Dietetics Education

MONDAY, OCTOBER 21

Poster Session: Food/Nutrition Science; Education; Management; Food Services/Culinary; Research

Development of an Interactive Dietetics Counseling Course

Author(s): K.H. Webber, T. Stephenson, E. Combs; Dietetics and HumanNutrition, Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY

Learning Outcome: Participant will be able to discuss the usefulness of addinga counseling recitation to a dietetics counseling class.

Teaching counseling skills to dietetics students in a high-enrollment programcan be challenging. The goal of this project was to assess student reportedpreparedness for counseling and to develop learner-centered teachingapproaches for an engaging counseling course. Over the past three years, thecounseling course offered has evolved from full lecture (Fall 2010), to lecturewith a one-time counseling session with graduate student role playing(Fall 2011), to a hybrid course with lecture and weekly small-group recita-tions in which theatre students role played as clients (Fall 2012). From courseevaluations, the overall value of the course (1¼poor; 4¼excellent) increasedfrom 2.6 (2010), to 3.3 (2011), to 3.6 (2012). Stimulation of interest in thesubject increased from 2.5 (2010), to 3.2 (2011), to 3.6 (2012). Student feed-back was collected in spring 2012 from alumni who took the course in 2010and interns who took the course in 2011. Additional focus group data will becollected in spring 2013. None of the seven students (0%) who took the classin 2010 and five out of 12 students (42%) who took the class in 2011 indicatedthat they felt prepared to counsel patients. Reasons given for not feelingprepared were lack of practice, lack of real world skills, and taking only onecounseling course. Course evaluations and focus group data support the needfor dietetics programs to develop counseling courses that incorporate real-lifeapplications and quality practice. Weekly counseling with trained actors in asmall group setting provides students with such experiences.

Funding Disclosure: None

Workshop Promoting Healthy Eating for Developmentally-Disabled AdultsAttending a Community Support and Treatment Facility

Author(s): H. Anderson, A.J. Rainville; School of Health Sciences, EasternMichigan University, Ypsilanti, MI

Learning Outcome: Participants will be able to describe the value of incor-poration of health education theory into nutrition education for develop-mentally-disabled adults.

Background: Obesity is a major health concern disproportionately affectingdevelopmentally-disabled adults. Lack of physical activity, over nutrition,health care service inequities, and trends towards increased living indepen-dence have resulted in a population that experiences overweight and obesityprevalence up to 2.1 times the national average. Obesity has significant healthand social consequences in this population including chronic disease,reduced life span and social isolation.

Methods: A workshop aimed at promoting healthy eating was developed fordevelopmentally-disabled adults attending a community support and treat-ment services facility. Thirteen cognitively disabled adults participated in theone-day workshop. Four senior-level Coordinated Program dietetic studentspresented the workshop. Educational activities utilized constructs of theSocial Cognitive Theory to highlight the USDA food initiative Choose My Plateas a method to increase knowledge of healthy meals and meal planning. TheSocial Cognitive Theory is used to understand health behaviors as a result ofinteraction between an individual, his/her environment, and behavior.Theory constructs including reciprocal determinism, observational learning,environment, and self-efficacy were incorporated into workshop activities.

Results: Workshop participants demonstrated active involvement in activitiesand workshop effectiveness was evaluated by the ability of participants torecall presented information during the concluding activity.

Conclusion: Nutrition education with high levels of reinforcement throughvarious mediums is recommended for future work with developmentally-disabled adults.

Funding Disclosure: None

September 2013 Suppl 3—Abstracts Volume 113 Number 9

Learner Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Simulation Training: The Future ofDietetics Education

Author(s): E. D'Apice1, C. O'Leary-Kelley2, K. Bawel-Brinkley2, G. Smith3,A. Rogers4, K. Sucher1, K. Mauldin1; 1Nutrition, Food Science, & Packaging,San Jose State Univ., San Jose, CA, 2Valley Foundation School of Nursing,San Jose State Univ., San Jose, CA, 3Occupational Therapy, San Jose StateUniv., San Jose, CA, 4Psychology, San Jose State Univ., San Jose, CA

Learning Outcome: Participants will be able to discuss the usefulness ofinterprofessional simulation training in dietetics education.

With evidence supporting the use of simulation in allied health education,the growing emphasis on team-centered approaches to patient care, and adesire to provide the most relevant training for its students, San José StateUniversity's dietetics program has incorporated interdisciplinary simulationtraining into its didactic program. In this study, a 6-point Likert-scaleStudents’ Perceptions survey tool (expert panel reviewed) was developed toassess the perceptions of 33 dietetics students regarding the utility of aninterdisciplinary simulation exercise compared to a traditional activity-basedlaboratory exercise. Also, a previously validated and published Interdisci-plinary Education Perceptions Scale (IEPS) was employed to assess thesestudents’ collaborative attitudes. A repeated-samples t-test analysis of thedata indicates that IEPS perceptions and perceptions of learning weresignificantly higher among students who received the simulation experienceversus a traditional lab activity, demonstrating moderate to large effect sizes.The results from this study show that interdisciplinary simulation is a usefulactivity-based teaching strategy to allow students from multiple disciplinesto train together in a safe and controlled clinical environment. In addition,this educational approach could also ensure that dietetics students arereceiving training that is on par with other members of the health care teamand allow them to build skills that are vital to today's dietitian.

Funding Disclosure: Curricular Innovation Project Grant from San Jose StateUniversity

Impact of Family Mealtime on College Students' Food Consumption and SelectLifestyle Choices

Author(s): R. Jannusch, C. Honselman; Family and Consumer Sciences, EasternIllinois Univ., Charleston, IL

Learning Outcome: To recognize that growing up with a history of familymealtime has a positive impact on diet quality, Grade Point Average (GPA),sleeping habits, and BMI in a college setting.

Background: People participating in family mealtimes �6 times per weekwhile growing up are known to have a better quality diet, GPA, sleepinghabits, and a normal BMI. It is hypothesized that college students with ahistory of family mealtimes continue to experience these benefits while incollege.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of the history of family mealtime on dietquality, GPA, sleeping habits, and BMI in a college setting.

Methods: A convenience sample of students at a midwestern university(n¼100) were asked to complete a 17 question survey regarding frequency offamily meals, food frequency, GPA, sleep, and BMI. GPA was evaluated on afive point scale (one � 2.0, two ¼ 2.1-2.5, three ¼ 2.6-3.0, four ¼ 3.1-3.5,five ¼ 3.6-4.0). Data were analyzed using a one-tailed, two-sample unequalvariance t-test in Microsoft Excel. IRB approval was granted.

Results: College participants growing up eating in a family dinner setting� 6 days a week had a non-significant (p�0.05) increase intake of fruits,vegetables, dairy, and hours of sleep compared to those less than 3 times perweek. There was a non-significant (p�0.05) decrease in daily conveniencefood consumption and normal BMI between the groups. Also, there was asignificant (p�0.05) increase in GPA from 3.32 to 4.20 (p¼0.002) between thegroups.

Conclusion/Application: These findings suggest that growing up eating in afamily dinner setting >6 days a week may be associated with better GPA in acollege population.

Funding Disclosure: None

JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMY OF NUTRITION AND DIETETICS A-47