March is National Nutrition Month. Our Registered Dietician, Kate, shared her perspective on the health and wellness benefits for our patients having Nutrition onsite in the HOPES Clinic.
Why is it beneficial for HOPES patients to access nutrition services onsite?
“As a Registered Dietitian working at HOPES I feel I have many advantages over other dietitians working in the community. Because of our electronic medical record, I have access to Primary Care Provider notes, patient lab values and can see all the medications my patients takes. Out in the community, I would need to ask patients to bring me all of this information before I could truly assess their medical nutrition therapy need. This is complicated, requires ROIs and often just plain doesn’t happen in the community. I also find at HOPES it is common for conversations about nutrition to lead to discussions about food insecurity, lack of medication use because of cost, or other life stressors that affect eating and health. I have had a significant number of people who are struggling with their weight (especially since the pandemic) and in talking we realize it is related to depression and/or anxiety. Thankfully, HOPES has support for these social determinants of health. I often utilize behavioral health and case management integration to provide patients with the resources they need to help with these and other aspects of their life.”
