University Students as Change Agents for Health and Sustainability: A Pilot Study on the Effects of a Teaching Kitchen-Based Planetary Health Diet Curriculum
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SUBMITTER: Rosenau N
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10892560 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:ObjectivesClimate change (CC) is of major importance for physicians as they are directly confronted with changing disease patterns, work in a greenhouse gas intensive sector and can be potential advocates for healthy people on a healthy planet.MethodsWe assessed third to fifth year medical students' needs to support the integration of CC topics into medical curricula. A questionnaire with 54 single choice-based items was newly designed with the following sections: role perception, knowledge test, learning needs, preference of educational strategies and demographic characteristics. It was administered online to students at Heidelberg medical faculty. Data sets were used for descriptive statistics and regression modelling.Results72.4% of students (N=170, 56.2% female, 76% aged 20-24 years) (strongly) agreed that physicians carry a responsibility to address CC in their work setting while only 4.7% (strongly) agreed that their current medical training had given them enough skills to do so. Knowledge was high in the area of CC, health impacts of CC, vulnerabilities and adaptation (70.1% correct answers). Knowledge gaps were greatest for health co-benefits and climate-friendly healthcare (55.5% and 16.7% of correct answers, respectively). 79.4% wanted to see CC and health included in the medical curriculum with a preference for integration into existing mandatory courses. A multilinear regression model with factors age, gender, semester, aspired work setting, political leaning, role perception and knowledge explained 45.9% of variance for learning needs.ConclusionThe presented results encourage the integration of CC and health topics including health co-benefits and climate-friendly healthcare, as well as respective professional role development into existing mandatory courses of the medical curriculum.
| S-EPMC10291352 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionAntimicrobial resistance is closely linked with the health and stability of environmental systems and therefore a challenge for the health of the planet. General Practitioners, owing to their trusted positions and close patient relationships, can play a crucial role in addressing antimicrobial resistance within the framework of Planetary Health. The goal of our study was to examine General Practitioners' knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding the linkage of antimicrobial resistance with Planetary Health to understand their potential as agents of change in this domain.Materials and methodsWe conducted 19 guided interviews with General Practitioners from four different German federal states (August-September 2022). Participants were selected from the intervention group of the RedAres randomized controlled trial, a study designed to optimize therapy and prescribing practices for uncomplicated urinary tract infections in general practice. Data were analyzed using Mayring's structured qualitative content analysis and the typology approach by Kelle and Kluge.ResultsGeneral Practitioners generally demonstrated the ability to identify the interlinkages between antimicrobial resistance and Planetary Health. However, they exhibited varying levels of knowledge, problem awareness, and accountability for the associated challenges and partially outsourced the responsibility for Planetary Health. Some General Practitioners were capable of integrating Planetary Health arguments into patient counseling. They recognized rational prescribing practice, self-reflection on antimicrobial resistance and Planetary Health, interprofessional exchange, and raising awareness among patients as potential avenues for engagement in promoting Planetary Health.DiscussionAs antimicrobial resistance is increasingly recognized as a Planetary Health challenge, empowering General Practitioners as change agents requires tailored measures based on their level of previous knowledge and their attitude toward Planetary Health. General Practitioners express a need for concrete advice on how to integrate antimicrobial resistance as a Planetary Health topic into their daily activities. Developing and evaluating adaptable training materials is essential. Additionally, the integration of Planetary Health outcomes into clinical guidelines could accelerate the adoption of this dimension in antibiotic prescribing practices within primary care settings.
| S-EPMC11322125 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionPhysicians face barriers to counseling patients regarding lifestyle, specifically, low perceived importance of and confidence in counseling, leading to underuse. There is a dearth in the literature evaluating educational interventions for counseling skills among preclinical medical students. Closing this gap is crucial to taking advantage of critical opportunities early in training.MethodsWe taught a session on evidence-based counseling for lifestyle changes to 124 preclinical medical students using case scenarios and role-plays. Our evaluation included (1) measures of perceived importance of and confidence in counseling and (2) measures of perceived gains related to learning objectives. We also undertook qualitative analysis of the session evaluation and thematic analysis of written assignments.ResultsThere were statistically significant increases in perceived importance of and confidence in lifestyle counseling. Postintervention student responses demonstrated the highest gain for listing and addressing obstacles to physician counseling, followed by applying physician counseling interventions. Students applied models correctly; however, our thematic analysis of written assignments demonstrated room for continued improvement in application of motivational interviewing techniques.DiscussionIt is significant that our session impacted students' attitudes on the importance of lifestyle counseling. Based on the session evaluation, we are refining assignment instructions for clarity, providing more time for each role-play, and starting with a faculty role-play demonstration. Aggregate data over time will be more robust than our single cohort. Our evaluation was limited to self-reported attitudes and role-play transcript review, but future interventions could use thematic analysis of recorded role-plays or direct observation of patient simulations.
| S-EPMC11683157 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Relationships with colleagues have the potential to be a source of support for faculty to make meaningful change in how they teach, but the impact of these relationships is poorly understood. We used a mixed-methods approach to investigate the characteristics of faculty who provide colleagues with teaching resources and facilitate change in teaching, how faculty influence one another. Our exploratory investigation was informed by social network theory and research on the impact of opinion leaders within organizations. We used surveys and interviews to examine collegial interactions about undergraduate teaching in life sciences departments at one research university. Each department included discipline-based education researchers (DBERs). Quantitative and qualitative analyses indicate that DBERs promote changes in teaching to a greater degree than other departmental colleagues. The influence of DBERs derives, at least partly, from a perception that they have unique professional expertise in education. DBERs facilitated change through coteaching, offering ready and approachable access to education research, and providing teaching training and mentoring. Faculty who had participated in a team based-teaching professional development program were also credited with providing more support for teaching than nonparticipants. Further research will be necessary to determine whether these results generalize beyond the studied institution.
| S-EPMC4909337 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThere is increasing interest in global health teaching among medical schools and their students. Schools in the UK and internationally are considering the best structure, methods and content of global health courses. Academic work in this area, however, has tended to either be normative (specifying what global health teaching ought to look like) or descriptive (of a particular intervention, new module, elective, etc.).MethodsWhile a number of studies have explored student perspectives on global health teaching, these have often relied on tools such as questionnaires that generate little in-depth evidence. This study instead used qualitative methods to explore medical student perspectives on global health in the context of a new global health module established in the core medical curriculum at a UK medical school.ResultsFifth year medical students participated in a structured focus group session and semi-structured interviews designed to explore their knowledge and learning about global health issues, as well as their wider perspectives on these issues and their relevance to professional development. While perspectives on global health ranged from global health 'advocate' to 'sceptic', all of the students acknowledged the challenges of prioritising global health within a busy curriculum.ConclusionsStudents are highly alert to the diverse epistemological issues that underpin global health. For some students, such interdisciplinarity is fundamental to understanding contemporary health and healthcare. For others, global health is merely a topic of geographic relevance. Furthermore, some students appeared to accept global health as a specialist area only relevant to professionals working overseas, while others considered it to be an essential part of working in the globalised world and therefore relevant to all medical professionals. Students also clearly noted that including 'soft' subjects and more discursive approaches to teaching and learning often sits awkwardly in a programme where 'harder' forms of knowledge and didactic methods tend to dominate. This suggests that more work needs to be done to explain the relevance of global health to medical students at the very beginning of their studies.
| S-EPMC6543666 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Nutrition knowledge, confidence, and skills are thought to be important elements in the role of healthcare professionals in obesity prevention and management. The Upstream Obesity Solutions curriculum goes upstream with a multidisciplinary approach to supplement nutrition education among health professional trainees. Educational strategies of didactics, teaching kitchens, and service-based learning were employed for medical, dental, and nursing students and resident physicians. Pre/post participation surveys assessed knowledge, attitude, and practices; lifestyle habits; and culinary skills among 75 trainees in this cross-sectional descriptive study. There was variability in statistically significant improvement in knowledge, attitudes, and practices about obesity management and nutrition education, lifestyle habits, and culinary skills among learner groups.
| S-EPMC10574719 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundFirst-year students often adopt health risk behaviors during their first semester such as increased consumption of unhealthy food, decreased physical activity, and increased alcohol use. Expectations, social tie's efforts to motivate behavior, and coresidence with parents can influence said behaviors.AimsWe assessed how students' health behaviors and expectations change over the first semester, and how the aforementioned factors influence the maintenance or change of behavior and expectations.MethodsA longitudinal survey design was implemented. A total of N = 163 German first-year students (81% female; 18% male; 1% non-binary; M age = 21.20, SD = 2.66) completed online questionnaires, including the NCHRBS and AUDIT, during the Covid-19 pandemic at the beginning (November 2020) and after the end (May 2021) of their first semester.ResultsCurrent and expected food consumption and physical activity became healthier over time. The current and expected number of drinks consumed per month increased. Change in expectations for physical activity, number of drinks and binge drinking were predicted by the initial respective behavior. The number of drinks and expected physical activity became unhealthier in relation to reported initial parental influence to drink and to be physically inactive. Moving out of the parental home predicted an increase in current and expected number of drinks and in current and expected binge drinking. These effects of moving out were not mediated by perceived parental or peer influence.ConclusionsInterventions should target these behaviors and expectations during the first semester and address parental influence on physical activity and alcohol use.
| S-EPMC9901434 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Diet-based approaches such as the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) have proposed health benefits for patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Despite its potential effectiveness, patients and caregivers identified barriers towards implementing the SCD, and a majority expressed interest in formal education surrounding the SCD. This study aimed to determine the impact of a virtual teaching kitchen curriculum on caregivers' knowledge and perspectives on implementing the SCD. Inclusion criteria included pediatric patients with IBD aged 3-21 years and their caregivers. Participants should have fewer than 12 months of experience with the SCD or have no experience with the SCD but with an interest in learning it. Twenty-three caregivers took part in a 90-min virtual teaching kitchen curriculum and completed pre- and post-session surveys. Caregivers had statistically significant increases in total curriculum scores (p < 0.0001) as well as increases in all curricular elements post-curriculum teaching. Caregivers indicated that they plan to apply the newly acquired recipes and cooking concepts and appreciated the encouragement and support they received during the course. Curricular strengths identified included the innovative multimodal curriculum structure and professional and community support. IBD centers can use this pilot study to create or expand SCD and other nutritional curricula for the IBD community.
| S-EPMC10537188 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The study aimed to investigate the personality traits of students and their preferred teaching methods at the University of Ghana and Huzhou Normal University. The study specifically aimed at identifying personality traits that apply to psychology students, the kinds of teaching methods students preferred, and ascertaining the relationship between personality traits and preferred teaching methods. A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to conduct the research. The sample size of two hundred and five (205) students from UG and Huzhou University was used. In this study, the researchers collected the data with the help of structured questionnaires. Research Question 1 and Question 2 will be analyzed using frequencies and percentages. Null hypothesis (There is no relationship between personality traits and teaching methods), Hypothesis 1 (There is a relationship between personality traits and teaching methods) will be analyzed using the Chi-Square. Data that will be collected will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (*SPSS). The study found that the conscientiousness personality trait among students at both University of Ghana and Huzhou University is the dominant personality trait. The preferred teaching method of students at both University of Ghana and Huzhou University is the cooperative learning method other than teaching methods. There is a relationship between personality traits and teaching methods: There is no relationship between students (participants') personality traits and teaching methods at both University of Ghana and Huzhou University. It was concluded that most participants possessed conscientiousness personality traits, followed by the agreeableness personality trait and extraversion in UG. For Huzhou University, the conscientiousness personality trait was included by most students, followed by extraversion and agreeableness. It was recommended that the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Ghana and China create, plan and revise their various contents for University Education so that it is geared towards students preferred teaching methods (cooperative method of teaching).
| S-EPMC9938481 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe support of student wellbeing features highly in all higher education institutional agendas. For medical students good physical and mental health can help prevent burnout, equip students for their future healthcare setting and indirectly improve patient care. At the University of Nottingham (UK), we were keen to explore undergraduate medical students perceived wellbeing before, during, and after an early years' (years 1-3) curriculum change. A restructure of the curriculum enabled personal wellbeing sessions to be embedded and directly linked to the pastoral support system.MethodsStudents' perceived wellbeing was assessed through a questionnaire distributed to three cohorts of first year students at the start and end of the autumn semester.ResultsThe data showed a clear improvement of perceived physical health at the end of the first semester following the curriculum change, alongside increased mood and ability to relax. A surprising outcome of this study was that students reported increased stress levels at the end of the semester, which we believe may be attributed to the change in assessment within the new curriculum. Our medical students are now facing end of year summative examinations, but are acutely aware of their progress as they undertake frequent formative assessments during the year. We propose that comparison of performance with peers is having a direct impact on perceived stress in these cohorts.ConclusionsThe study has shown that embedding wellbeing in the curriculum can have positive effects even within a changing curriculum. The importance of evolving wellbeing provision and support based on the needs of the student population is essential and probably never more in need than at this moment in time.
| S-EPMC8088313 | biostudies-literature