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Bridging the Gap: Integrating Mental Health and Weight-Neutral Practices into Higher Education

Sunday, October 6, 2024

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101 ABCHIJ

Level: Level 2 (intermediate knowledge/experience)

Track: Career Advancement

CPE: 1.5

Description

The demand for mental health education for nutrition professionals, as enhanced by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been a long standing gap in traditional dietetics training. Countless communities and populations are in need of support providers that offer culturally appropriate and intersectional nutrition support; including mental health screening/awareness.Traditional weight-centric healthcare education has not always improved health outcomes, and students need ways to approach these topics with a lens that is inclusive of body size, to better address behavior change and respectful of food and body autonomy. Higher education is where we can offer growth and support in this area. Students who receive instruction early in their careers about weight neutral topics have diversified thinking, improved awareness, and changed attitudes about the treatment of individuals as it relates to nutrition, mental health and overall well being. Exposure to concepts that are weight neutral and engage with mental health topics help students as both individuals and future professionals, to grapple with eating and body image concerns preparing for future success!

Learning Objectives

  • Outline and describe the enhanced whole person. Patient centered care approach that is nutrition therapy commonly used in mental health care.
  • Research overview of undergraduate, healthcare, students and disordered, eating, nutrition, education, impacting influence.
  • Identify impact of weight, neutral, nutrition, care practices on personal food and body beliefs with greater emphasis on whole person care.

Performance Indicators

  • 1.7.3 Develops awareness of one's own personal beliefs and values to inform and reduce biases.
  • 3.2.8 Challenges, encourages and supports others to take action to advance the profession.
  • 1.1.3 Keeps abreast of changes in practice and in the practice environment that affect individual competence and legislative scope of practice.

Speakers

  • Megan Kniskern photo

    Megan Kniskern

    Associate Teaching Professor, Arizona State University

    Megan has dedicated over 15 years to weight inclusive, mental health care, providing outpatient nutrition therapy in her practice, MAK Nutrition Services, LLC based in Phoenix, AZ. She has worked at all levels of care for eating disorder and substance use support, consults on developing programs, and provides advisory services to treatment centers’ nutrition and culinary programs. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Dietitian and Approved Consultant through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp) since 2014. Megan is an Associate Teaching Professor at Arizona State University, teaching management, leadership, professional preparation, and nutrition undergraduate courses along with a graduate eating disorders and substance use disorder course which she developed. Nominated for Arizona State University’s, College of Health Solutions, Teacher of the Year in 2019 and 2022, and 2023. Currently, Megan is one of the contributors to the Weight-Inclusive Toolkit Project, an ACEND approved curriculum to be included in future DPD programs. Co-author of the Revised 2020 Eating Disorder Standards of Practice and Standards of Professional Practice (published), Megan has served in past leadership roles with Behavioral Health Nutrition (BHN) DPG and the International Federation of Eating Disorder Dietitians (IFEDD).
  • Ashley Munro photo

    Ashley Munro

    Registered Dietitian, Faculty Member, University of Arizona

    Ashley is a weight inclusive health provider and educator. She has Bachelor’s degrees in physiology and nutritional sciences, both from the University of Arizona and her Master in Public Health with an emphasis in Health Promotion. Ashley has been a dietitian for over 11 years, has worked clinically, in outpatient and private practice, working with adults, pediatrics and specializing in disordered eating and eating disorder support. She holds additional certifications as a diabetes care and education specialist and intuitive eating counselor. She is a trained chef and enjoys sharing her passion for food, as food is central to her culture and has impacted the way her family celebrates and shows love to one another. Ashley is currently a faculty member at the University of Arizona in the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness and works with a team to provide weight inclusive health curriculum and programs for UA students. Ashley lives with her daughter and husband in Tucson, AZ.

Moderator

  • Sumner Brooks photo

    Sumner Brooks

    Founder, EDRD Pro, LLC

    Sumner Brooks holds over 15 years of experience practicing as a registered dietitian in a variety of outpatient nutrition settings treating eating disorders. She is also the founder of E.D.R.D. Pro™️, an online platform offering eating disorder training for dietitians and healthcare providers. Her primary interests are in eating disorder treatment and prevention as well as consulting with parents about feeding through an intuitive eating lens. Sumner is the co-author of How to Raise an Intuitive Eater: Raising the Next Generation with Food and Body Confidence, (St. Martin’s Press, 2022).

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