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Sarah Leahy
Diet 3235
Community Refection
1. Name: Sarah Leahy

2. Date of placement: March 11, 2014

3. Placement site/description
Site 1: Freshplace Pantry in Hartford, CT is a client choice food pantry providing direct educational
materials and assistance to the clients of the pantry. The pantry provides a of healthy options to the clients
and is a client based pantry that provides more then food, it provides the client with education and health
lifestyle support. This pantry was located in an urban environment in Downtown Hartford. We saw a
mixture of male and female clients, all where of African-American ethnicity and between the ages of 30-
59. On this day there were suppose to be fourteen clients visiting the pantry, however we only got ten
visitors on that day.
Site 2: FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School in Manchester, CT. We taught a direct
nutrition education lesson to the middle school after school program about reading nutrition labels and
discovering sugar-sweetened beverages. The location of the middle school was in an urban environment.
The demographics of the population we taught was an equal mix of male and female students, between
the ages of 10-14 years old (6
th
-8
th
grade) and the students were a variety of ethnicitys; African-
American, Hispanic, and white.

4. Site mentor
Site mentor at Freshplace Pantry was Jon Mitchell. We did not receive a site mentor at the FLASH
afterschool program.

5. Language barriers Y/N. If yes, please explain how you dealt with the challenge
We did not experience language barriers at either of the sites we visited. The participants at both of the
sites spoke English and we were able to communicate with everyone we encountered through out the day.

6. Describe the supervised prax placement/activity here. Please weave into your response the following:
A. Connections to the Nutrition Care Process
a. Assessment--- food for thought:
Freshplace Pantry: At this location all of the clients were of a low or limited income
that may limit their ability to go to a large grocery store to receive fresh fruits or vegetables.
Nutrition education maybe difficult because of the limited budget and resources the
participants have, and because of the limited time that most of them had. The clients want to
go into the pantry and get their food and then leave because of their busy schedules. It is
important to provide education while the clients are shopping or bagging their groceries but
they do not want to be stopped to be educated. The Freshplace pantry is a wonderful place to
provide nutrition education because in order for participants to receive food they must go
through nutrition learning modules with the site mentors Jon. The nutrition education we
provided was additional to what they were already being taught. The Transtheoretical
model or the stages of change model is appropriate to use at this site to determine how ready
the client is to make a lifestyle change. Depending on the stage of change will determine the
level of nutrition education to provide and how willing they are to make the healthy food
choices while at the pantry. One example of this was a women who was clearly in the action
stage because she was concerned with the amount of sodium in her canned goods, she was
willing to try the different fruits and vegetables available and was very interested in talking to
us about nutrition and the education materials we had to provide. While we also encountered
clients that were still in the precontemplation or contemplation stage about making changes

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towards healthy eating and learning about nutrition because they were not willing to try the
different fruits and vegetables, and did not want to take the recipes or hand out we had to
offer about eating on a budget or reading the nutrition facts label. We approached these
clients differently and did not try to force changes on them, but tried to bring different
nutritional options towards them in effort to make them aware of a potential change.
FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School: At this location some of the
issues related to nutrition education was the age of the students, and the fact that this lesson
took place after school. The students are in middle school, making this a difficult age to teach
because each of the students is developmentally in a different stage, some of the children
found the lesson too easy and some of the students found the concept difficult. Another issue
associated with providing nutrition education at this site was that it is afterschool and the
students do not want to be taught something that feels like school I felt most of the group did
not have a desire to be there, therefore making an impact on theses students is not as large if
they do not want to be learning. A final issue associated with this lesson is that for most of
these children their parents buy the food and beverages that they consume daily. This lesson
involved sugar-sweetened beverages and a majority of the kids were telling me about all the
drinks they have at home that their parents buy for them. This is a very difficult barrier to
overcome because the students are not yet old enough to take total control of their own
nutrition. I do however think that is was a good place to provide nutrition education; the
children did not seem to have previous knowledge involving sugar in beverages. Although
the lesson was only 45 minutes I do believe that the students were able to take away a little
something from each of the lessons they received from fellow CP students. Determining a
health belief model is difficult for this lesson because they are students. I think that self-
efficacy is appropriate model to be used with these students because they need to be
responsible for how much they want to get out the lesson. Some of the students were
interested in what we were teaching while other students did not take interest and therefore
would not get as much out of the lesson.

b. Diagnosis--your PES statement as justification here in the exact language its written in. (See
NCPPESDx form). Youve learned about these in clinical as well.

Limited adherence to nutrition-related recommendations related to socioeconomic status
and limited resources as evidenced by attending Freshplace pantry biweekly to receive
assistance and food support.

Food- and nutrition related knowledge deficit related to age and socioeconomic status as
evidenced by the final evaluation of knowledge learned following the 45-minute lesson.

c. Plan
Freshplace Pantry:
Meet with Koons community nutrition staff to develop plan of action and talking
points for direct nutrition education
Meet with partner to developed and gather hand outs and recipes to hand out to
clients at the pantry
Prepared for tasting with appropriate materials such as glove, knife, napkins, cutting
board, etc.
Review transportation, destination and timing for arrival
Arrive at site and set up table, with materials, handouts, recipes, and prepared tasting
Assist Freshplace Pantry staff in finishing organizing pantry and food from morning
delivery

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Partners took turns: Engaging with clients at pantry while they were shopping for
food and bagging. While the other partner stood with the table to provide nutrition
education, hand out the tasting and documented demographic information of
participants
o Partners switched off roles, for every other client that arrived at pantry
Break down site
Evaluate experience, methods of education, and appropriate of delivery of materials.

FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School
Meet with Koons community nutrition staff to develop plan of action and talking
points for direct nutrition education
Meet with partner to develop lesson and SMART goals and objectives
Gather and develop handouts, evaluations, and parent letter to be handed out to the
participants during the lesson
Gather additional resources such as sugar cubes, empty bottles and additional
resources to support and enhance lesson topic
Review transportation, destination and timing for arrival
Arrive at site and prepare handouts, and materials to be distributed to the students.
Introduce yourself to the students and have the students take part in an ice-breaker
game to allow them to become comfortable with you as a teacher and excited to learn
Preform lesson complete with hand out and hand-on materials, such as measuring the
amount sugar in some of their favorite drinks, engage the students urging them to
participate through the lesson
At the end of the lesson provided an evaluation for the students to complete and then
collect to determine how effective lesson was and document for potential changes for
next time
Documented demographic information of student participants
Clean up classroom, and collect materials
Evaluate experience, methods of education, and appropriate of delivery of materials.

d. Implementation
Freshplace Pantry: Upon arriving at the pantry, Jon set us up at a table near the exit of
the pantry so that we could grab the clients as they were bagging up and getting ready to
leave the pantry. We laid out a tablecloth, handouts on Eating Health on a budget and
reading a nutrient facts label and several different recipes involving fairly simple
ingredients. We also set up to prepare a tasting, we were given guacamole and focaccia bread
to sample to the clients. After setting up we helped the other volunteers continue to unload
the reaming groceries and finish organizing the produce section. This delivery provided a
large amount of fennel, Jon was concerned the clients would not take it unless there were
additional recipes provided; we worked with him to find and print additional recipes that
involved fennel to persuade the participants to try it. There was plenty of help at the pantry
that day, there were several volunteers there to walk around and help the clients do their
shopping. However, Ruth and I took turns talking to the clients while the other manned the
table handing out recipes and the tasting sample. The person at the table also documented the
demographics of the participants to ensure we had an adequate direct count. We had a total of
nine clients come in that day, some which were very interested to talk to us, while others did
not want to be bothered. We also did a majority of our talking with the clients as we helped
them bagged their groceries, pointing out some of the food they decided on and asking what
they were going to do with it. After the last client we were able to break down our table and
thanked Jon for an awesome experience!

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FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School: After we signed in to the
school, we found the FLASH program and were able to set up in a classroom. When the
students arrived we started out by introducing our selves, and playing an icebreaker with the
students to have them get comfortable with us and begin with a little fun. The icebreaker had
the student say their name and name a food that started with the first letter of their name, for
example My name is Sarah and I like spaghetti squash. Once we got the group warmed up
we began the lesson by asking the students what they know about sugar-sweetened beverages
and why they think they should be a sometimes drink and not an every day drink. We asked
what are the best options to drink every day, water, milk, 100% juice. We also talked about
the difference between 100% juice and alternative juice options. I think the students were
able to get the concept but it was a little confusing for them because most of their parents buy
them these sugary drinks on a regular basis. We then passed out our hand out and gave a little
information about reading the nutrient facts label, and especially focused on serving size,
number of serving per container and the amount of sugar found in different drinks. The final
point that was emphasized during this lesson was how to convert the grams of sugar in a
beverage into teaspoons. We demonstrated to the students what a teaspoon would be
considered by provided them with cubes that look like a teaspoon look like. We had the
students work in groups to identify the serving size, and number of servings in each beverage
and determine the number of teaspoons of sugar in each beverage. We concluded the lesson
with a game that had the groups of student rank different beverages from least amount of
sugar to most amount of sugar. After the game and lesson we gave the students an evaluation
to fill out to assess what was learned from the lesson. We also provided the students with a
Sugar Shocker hand out and a parent letter explaining who we are and what we talk their
children today. After the students left, we gathered demographic information for each of the
students from the leader of the site and left with all of our materials.

e. Evaluation/Modification
Freshplace Pantry: At this site we provided direct education through oral
communication with the clients and handing out recipes and nutrition information. Our goal
was to communicate with 100% of the clients at the Freshplace pantry, discuss a nutrition
topic and provide each individual with some form of individualized education. I would say
that we were able to meet this goal because either Ruth or I was able to talk to every person
that came into the pantry on this day. One of the great things about this pantry is the way Jon
organizes the schedule to have the clients so there is never an overload of people in the pantry
at one time and we were able to talk to each person individually. This being said some of the
clients were more willing to talk to us then others, but we were able to talk to each of the
clients, and even if they did not want to really talk to us they did talk our handouts and
recipes.
FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School: At this site we were able to
have the students complete a written evaluation of what they learned and asked them
questions that were covered during the lesson. Our goal was to have 75% of the students
successfully identify the amount of sugar in grams in a beverage and based on this number
determine the number of teaspoons a beverage. I think based on our evaluation and working
with the kids we were just about able to meet this goal and our additional learning objectives.
Many of these students were able to do the work however many were also not taking the
exercise seriously and did not seem to fill out the evaluation truthfully. Observationally when
walking around and talking to each group individually is seemed like they understood the
topics and everyone took part in the counting teaspoons of sugar activity.

f. Lessons learned

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Freshplace Pantry: I thought that tabling at this site went very well; we had enough
supplies, handouts and recipes for each of the clients that came through. We were able to talk
to everyone that came through the pantry even if they were not interested in nutrition
education they were still willing to talk to us. The entire environment was very welcoming
and all of the participants and volunteers were friendly and wanting to talk. It was a great
community experience that exposed us to a different type of client- choice pantry that offers a
great deal more then food but education and support for a healthy lifestyle.
FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School: I thought that the lesson at this
site also went quite well. The students were very respectful but they were not very eager to
learn, because the program is after school. It is hard to teach the students after they have had
a full day of learning and school. This being said I think the students did great and we tried
our best to hold their attention for the 45-mintue lesson. I think it is important to make
afterschool programs fun for the children so they look forward to coming back and they feel
like they learned something while having a good time. Next time I would try to have an
additional game to hold the students attention, this lesson required the students to do math
and I think that was one of the down sides of this lesson topic. Overall however I think the
lesson went well, we were prepared and engaged the students with our activities and final
game.

B. Competencies you addressed/met. Please list by the number and statement listed in your syllabus.
Also, please add what you did at this placement that would qualify for having met the competency.
(To format for my reading , its helpful if you cut and paste the competency from your syllabus and
then bullet below it your activities that justify your having met the competency. The reflection
example will demonstrate this. Thanks much!)

CRD 2.3: Design, implement and evaluate presentations to a target audience (Note: A quality
presentation considers life experiences, cultural diversity and educational background of the target
audience.)
At FLASH we developed an educational lesson for middle school students. We developed age-
appropriate and engaging worksheets and activities to teach them about sugar-sweetened
beverages. At the end of the lesson we provided an evaluation to the students to determine what
they learned from the 45-minute presentation. When developing the lesson we took into
consideration the age of the children, and if they would have previous knowledge of the topics
being presented.

CRD 2.4: Use effective education and counseling skills to facilitate behavior change
At the Freshplace pantry we attempted to provide information to the clients while they were
picking out groceries. We hoped to be able to provide knowledge and education that would
facilitate behavior changes in the grocery store and in every day life. We also provided handouts
and recipes that could assist in developing health lifestyles behaviors in everyday life.
At the FLASH presentation we made sure we used effective education and teaching skills to
engage the students and to facilitate in behavior change. The behavior changes we hoped to get
across to the students is to develop the skill of reading nutrition labels and determine the amount
of sugar found in some of their favorite drinks. We did this by providing hands out and
participating in activities involving measuring the amount of sugar in different beverages.

CRD 2.5: Demonstrate active participation, teamwork and contributions in-group settings
Ruth and I worked together at the Freshplace to both be able to talk to clients. We also worked
together to develop the handouts and recipes for our table.

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At the FLASH program Ruth and I worked together as a team to teach the lesson to the 6
th

graders. Together we developed the lesson, activities and developed the hands out and parent
letter to go home the students.

CRD 2.8: Apply leadership skills to achieve desired outcomes
Ruth and I worked together both taking leadership roles to produce the final outcomes for both of
the sites we went to on this day. I took leadership in developing the sugar-sweetened lesson
outline for the FLASH program. I developed the hand out and games we played with the students,
while Ruth took responsibility of developing the parent letter, evaluation and copying materials.
We also both shared responsibility of developing materials for the Freshplace pantry and talking
with the clients as they were shopping.

CRD 3.1: Perform the Nutrition Care Process (a through e below) and use standardized nutrition
language for individuals, groups and populations of differing ages and health status, in a variety of
settings
In questions 6A above we made a connections between a community experience and the nutrition
care processes. We related the steps of the nutrition care process from assessment to evaluation
and learning at Freshplace pantry and FLASH program, based on specific demographics.

CRD 3.2: Demonstrate effective communications skills for clinical and customer services in a variety of
formats (Note: Formats include oral, print, visual, electronic and mass media methods for maximizing
client education, employee training and marketing.)
At the Freshplace pantry we developed oral communication skills by talking with clients at the
pantry discussing nutrition, food and recipes. It was a rewarding experience that caused me to
step outside of my comfort zone to communicate with a variety of different people. It was
important to not be afraid to approach the individuals because almost everyone was willing to talk
about the food they were choosing.

CRD 3.3: Develop and deliver products, programs or services that promote consumer health, wellness
and lifestyle management (Note: Students/interns should consider health messages and interventions that
integrate the consumers desire for taste, convenience and economy with the need for nutrition, food
safety.)
At Freshplace we developed hand out materials that focused on reading the nutrient facts label
and about grocery shopping on a budget. We were able to get each of the clients who came
through the pantry to take our information and recipes that we provided at the time. We also made
an effort to discus with the clients about the information as they there bagging their groceries and
getting ready to leave.
At the FLASH program we developed handout that talked about sugar sweetened beverages. We
emphasized the importance of looking at the serving size of the drink, the number of servings per
container and the sugar content.

CRD 3.4: Deliver respectful, science-based answers to consumer questions concerning emerging trends
At Freshplace pantry we discuss with the client the importance of reading food labels and how to
eat healthy on a budget. We provided information to clients that wanted to listen about sodium in
different canned foods. We specifically talked to one woman for quite a while about the sodium
found in different canned vegetables and soup. This woman said she was concerned about her
sodium because her doctor had told her to be. We talked a little bit about why this and she was
very eager to learn about different nutrition topics.


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C. Connections to class lecture notesimportant to demonstrate the loop
In class we discussed the process of nutrition education and how it has changed over the years,
becoming more adapted for the consumer. It is important for education to be straightforward and simple
in a world where nutrition information is always changing. In class we learned about what it means to be
a nutrition educator and the many different things we need to consider when in the community setting. It
is important to keep in mind the audience, the setting, the scope and content of the information being
provided, and if an activity would be appropriate to enforce the information. While out in the different
community sites today I made sure to keep in mind my role as a nutrition educator and the type of
information I am trying to get across to clients at Freshplace and the students at FLASH. Both sites were
different ages, population and in a different setting but both involved me teaching my knowledge of
nutrition in the community.

D. Last brief notes:
a. Acceptance of your presence at the site:
Freshplace pantry: Everyone at the pantry was very welcoming and excited for us to be
there. Jon and his volunteers were very happy that we were there to help spread nutrition
education. He had a spot set up for us and made sure that all of the participants stopped at our
table prior to bagging their groceries. All of the client were also very welcoming to our presence
at the pantry and were excited to talk to us about different nutrition topics. Everyone wanted to
talk to us, it was a very comfortable environment that offered experience talking to a variety of
different people.
FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School: The students were well behaved
at the site. The counselors were in the room to tell the children to quite down and focus when
needed but over all it was a welcoming experience. It was a good experience developing and
delivering the lesson to the students. They seemed relatively interested in the topic, we tried to
keep their attention as best we could at the after school program. Overall we were well accepted
by the students and most of them were excited to be there learning.

b. Your perceived value and worth of the activities/lesson
Freshplace pantry: The clients seem to enjoy that we were at the pantry handing out
recipes and enjoyed the tasting. The clients to receive nutrition education as a requirement to
participate food pantry, most of the clients were interested to see what we were giving away and
enjoyed talking to us while they were doing their grocery shopping. Some clients were more
excited to talk to us about nutrition while others did not want to be bothered, and this is the nature
of any community site. Being at the pantry provided additional nutrition information and we also
helped to encourage clients to take a variety of fruits and vegetables they may not have taken if
we had not suggested recipes.
FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School: I think that the students did
enjoy the lesson we taught about sugar-sweetened beverages. I am not sure how much the
students took away from the lesson, but I hope they took away the main points we tried to enforce
about the nutrient facts label and reading the amount of sugar in their drinks. I think it is valuable
to teach students while they are young about the importance of nutrition and the long-term health
impacts associated with nutrition.

c. Site mentor perceived value and worth of the lesson /share any of their comments
Freshplace pantry: The site mentor Jon was very welcoming to the site and was able to
provide us with a little bit of information and history of the site. He seemed to appreciate the help
we offered him to help him organize the pantry and liked the recipes we provided. I think he
appreciated that we were there to talk to the clients in addition to the other volunteers, and
enforce the nutrition concepts he also teaches.

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FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School: We did not have a site mentor
at this site.

d. Your comfort level at site
Freshplace pantry: As I mentioned above everyone at the pantry was very welcoming
and enjoyed us being there. I felt very comfortable at the site and I think that was because the
clients were open to us being there and willing to talk. The Freshplace was a great experience
because we were able to talk to a variety of people and really got to interact with people while
they were shopping and picking out food.
FLASH afterschool program, Bennett Middle School: I was very comfortable
teaching the lesson at the middle school. I have experience working and teaching nutrition lessons
to children of all ages and I think that helped me to feel prepared to teach to the students. The
students were all very outgoing, which also made it easier to start a discussion with the group.

7. KEY POINT TO END: What did you gain from the experience that speaks to your growth and
development as a community nutritionist? In what ways are you feeling increasingly competent? (woo
hoo!)
My trip to the Freshplace pantry and FLASH afterschool program both provided me with
experiences to assist in my growth and development of becoming a community nutritionist. Both of these
experiences offered a variety of different skills that could be used within the community. At Freshplace I
was responsible for reaching out to clients at the pantry, and talking to them about nutrition. At first this
was intimidating but after talking to one or two people and realizing how comfortable they were with me
approaching them I became more comfortable. It is a good skill to develop being able to reach out and
talk to people without being timid. At the FLASH program I developed skills about teaching students and
developing lessons. I think being able to provide adequate education is important to be able to stand in
front of the class without being nervous is an important skill to be comfortable with.