The Miami VA Healthcare System serves Veterans from Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties with an estimated veteran population of 152,597 (US Department of Veterans Affairs, n.d.). The Miami VA is very committed to helping Veterans understand their health needs in order to make educated decisions. There is many nutrition related educational services offered to Veterans that provide information and resources that are practical and accessible. For national nutrition month, which is the nutrition education and information campaign promoted every year in March by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, I delivered a nutrition wellness presentation to Veterans and employees at the Miami VA on the importance of physical activity, healthy eating and hydration.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016), more than one-third or approximately 36.5% of U.S. adults are obese. In 2015 there were more than three quarters of Veterans, who received care at different VA facilities, considered to be overweight or obese (Rogers, 2013). The reason there is such high prevalence of overweight and obesity within the Veteran population may be multi-factorial. Veterans tend to have lower annual household incomes than non-veterans, thus increasing the likelihood of co-morbidities related to obesity such as diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Consequently, the objective of the nutrition wellness presentation was to educate Veterans and employees at the Miami VA on the importance of physical activity, healthy eating and adequate hydration. The presentation outline included a lesson plan to help participants learn the importance of proper hydration by encouraging fluid intake from low or no calorie beverages throughout the day (Appendix A). Also, there were different handouts about healthy eating, how to read food labels, physical activity and adequate hydration (Appendix B). There was also information on hypertension and cardiovascular diseases because my preceptors have found that these are very common among the Veterans that are seen at the Miami VA. The presentation consisted of education about the nutrition wellness topics followed by a fitness walk on the grounds of the Miami VA facility helping participants to be physically active to improve their health. There was a lot of preparation prior to this presentation. I created a flyer to be sent as a mass email to all the Miami VA staff, so that they could let patients know about the event. The flyer was approved by Public Affairs, and I was able to get their approval stamp needed to distribute the flyer throughout the facility. Also, I had to request support from Police Services in assisting to make sure that the walk and presentation could be completed in the most secure way to minimize all risks of injuries (Appendix C). Furthermore, I contacted Volunteer Services and attended one …show more content…
The presentations were scheduled on March 23rd and March 31st at 12:00 PM at the West Patio entrance. The flyer included the purpose, location and attire for the event (Appendix D). On the day of the event, there were posters created, brochures and handouts to be given to the participants (Appendix E). Also, there was a sign in sheet and between both events there were a total of 28 participants. Moreover, it was suggested for participants to bring canned food donations to support United Way of Miami-Dade. There were a lot of donations from the participants as well as from some of the staffed dietitians from the Miami
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2016), more than one-third or approximately 36.5% of U.S. adults are obese. In 2015 there were more than three quarters of Veterans, who received care at different VA facilities, considered to be overweight or obese (Rogers, 2013). The reason there is such high prevalence of overweight and obesity within the Veteran population may be multi-factorial. Veterans tend to have lower annual household incomes than non-veterans, thus increasing the likelihood of co-morbidities related to obesity such as diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Consequently, the objective of the nutrition wellness presentation was to educate Veterans and employees at the Miami VA on the importance of physical activity, healthy eating and adequate hydration. The presentation outline included a lesson plan to help participants learn the importance of proper hydration by encouraging fluid intake from low or no calorie beverages throughout the day (Appendix A). Also, there were different handouts about healthy eating, how to read food labels, physical activity and adequate hydration (Appendix B). There was also information on hypertension and cardiovascular diseases because my preceptors have found that these are very common among the Veterans that are seen at the Miami VA. The presentation consisted of education about the nutrition wellness topics followed by a fitness walk on the grounds of the Miami VA facility helping participants to be physically active to improve their health. There was a lot of preparation prior to this presentation. I created a flyer to be sent as a mass email to all the Miami VA staff, so that they could let patients know about the event. The flyer was approved by Public Affairs, and I was able to get their approval stamp needed to distribute the flyer throughout the facility. Also, I had to request support from Police Services in assisting to make sure that the walk and presentation could be completed in the most secure way to minimize all risks of injuries (Appendix C). Furthermore, I contacted Volunteer Services and attended one …show more content…
The presentations were scheduled on March 23rd and March 31st at 12:00 PM at the West Patio entrance. The flyer included the purpose, location and attire for the event (Appendix D). On the day of the event, there were posters created, brochures and handouts to be given to the participants (Appendix E). Also, there was a sign in sheet and between both events there were a total of 28 participants. Moreover, it was suggested for participants to bring canned food donations to support United Way of Miami-Dade. There were a lot of donations from the participants as well as from some of the staffed dietitians from the Miami