Skip to contents
In This Issue:
The Nutrition Department has placed outreach and education at the top of its priority list. New efforts, including a Web site due to go live mid-September and community-based nutrition and weight-management programs are aimed at enhancing the department’s profile among patients and health care consumers. “Our first priority is education,” said Kathy McManus, MS, RD, director, Nutrition. “The objective is to give people—our patients, families, nurses, doctors and the general public—the best, research-based dietary information available. As dietitians we translate the articles published in scientific journals into user-friendly information.” BWH’s new Health e Weight for Women Web Site will be free of charge and can be found on the Brigham and Women’s homepage.
The site is the culmination of a joint effort among Nutrition, Women’s Health and Marketing and is meant to support patients and people in the community and serve as a marketing tool for the hospital.
“This is a tremendous service to women, and it is another opportunity for BWH experts to provide valuable health information to one of our critical health care consumer bases,” said Mairead Hickey, PhD, RN, vice president of Women’s Health and Specialty Services.
The site will offer basic nutrition facts, recipe makeovers, shopping tips and weight management advice, along with a page dedicated to frequently asked questions. Additionally, dietitians in the department will write a quarterly newsletter and distribute it to those who register with the site.
Down the line, the department plans to add a fee-for-service weight-management site and run support groups on-line.
The other piece of the outreach effort involves bringing healthy nutrition information to people in the community. Dietitian Tara Mardigan, MS, MPH, RD, revised the scope of her position when she joined the department in May. Mardigan’s job entailed 1.5 days at Massachusetts Mental Health Center. Rather than only following patients individually, Mardigan took a public health approach, spawning greater interest and the likelihood for patients to follow up on individual bases. She now conducts weekly health and wellness sessions for the patients and has found success.
“I let them drive the discussion topics and I go from there,” says Mardigan. “Often it is about increasing awareness and making wise choices, even if those choices are from fast food restaurants.”
Mardigan gauges her success with the program in terms of attendance. She typically has 12 to 15 members each week, and three of her attendees have lost at least 8 lbs.
The department intends to continue spreading health and wellness information through these and other methods. Next month, members of the department will visit MBTA headquarters to discuss employee concerns around nutrition issues and identify a series of sessions BWH can provide to the company.
“Obesity is an epidemic. Sixty-one percent of adults in the country are overweight or obese,” said McManus. “We’re hoping to raise the level of awareness with credible information.”