Nutrition is at the core of good health, but many people do not have access to resources to help them shop, cook and eat in a healthy way. A new continuing education (CE) course intends to help healthcare providers re-think where and how patients can best receive nutrition counseling. The free course, developed and implemented by the American Heart Association, a global force for longer, healthier lives for all, with support from Kroger Health, is available now.
The 75-minute course, "Leveraging Grocery Stores to Deliver Personalized Nutrition: An Interdisciplinary Model of Care in the Community," provides healthcare and nutrition professionals with the understanding of a retail interdisciplinary approach to delivering nutrition care at the source, where patients buy their groceries.
"Healthy eating can be a powerful tool in preventing and managing chronic disease, but it's often overwhelming to learn what exactly eating 'healthy' means," said Kevin B. Sneed, PharmD, FNAP, FNPHA, senior associate vice-president at USF Health, dean and professor at the USF College of Pharmacy, American Heart Association volunteer and chair of the faculty for the course development. "This course helps healthcare professionals meet people where they are in order to provide personalized nutrition information in their community."
"Our interdisciplinary care team at Kroger Health has seen success in finding ways to access patients at our retail locations and via telehealth," said Bridget Wojciak, RDN, LD director of nutrition at Kroger Health. "We're proud to poise the grocery store as a healthcare destination on a broader scale and hope more people can receive actionable, personalized nutrition counseling as part of their grocery shopping experience."
Healthcare providers will also learn best practices for developing strategic partnerships, using collaboration to help optimize nutrition intervention, identifying relevant practitioners and patient populations, and understanding the overall benefits of a retail interdisciplinary model of care executed in a grocery store setting.
Although targeted towards health and nutrition professionals, the course is accessible to anyone who may be interested in learning more about nutrition care. For full accreditation information and to access the course, visit the American Heart Association's Lifelong Learning site.
