The skanner., November 13, 2013, Page 7, Image 7

Health
FamilyCare Partnership Aims to Improve Nutrition for Children and Pregnant Women
On-site dietitians are not common in pediatric and
OB/GYN offices, says Bradeen. “The internship program is
a proactive solution to the obesity epidemic. “When good
nutrition is established early, future health problems can be
avoided.”
Mary Cluskey, Ph.D., director of OSUDI, indicates that
research evidence demonstrates that eating behaviors are
established early, both by maternal prenatal diet and with
feeding behaviors of infants and young children. “Interven-
tions that launched this summer with two interns and now,
there are six students rotating through CHA and WHA clin-
ics in the Portland-metro area.
Dan Roth, MD
Vice President of Integrates Services
Mary Cluskey, Ph.D.
Director, OSU College of Public Health and
Human Sciences
(PORTLAND, Ore.) – FamilyCare, Inc., in partnership
with Oregon State University, the Children’s Health
Alliance (CHA), and Women’s Healthcare Associates
(WHA), piloted a new program aimed at improving nutri-
tion for children and pregnant women.
This past summer, interns from Oregon State University’s
College of Public Health and Human Sciences accredited
nutrition and dietetics internship program (called OSUDI)
worked one-on-one with pregnant women who are Family-
Care members and patients of WHA, as well as children
who are members and pediatric patients of CHA clinics.
WHA is an integrated team of women’s healthcare profes-
sionals with eleven Portland-area OB/GYN clinics, while
CHA is an association of private practice pediatricians in
the Portland-Vancouver area. Both physician groups con-
tract with FamilyCare.
After a collaborative workgroup of FamilyCare, WHA
and CHA identified improved patient nutrition as a key pri-
ority, Daniel Roth, M.D., FamilyCare’s vice president of
Integrated Services, reached out to OSU’s Nutrition unit in
the School of Biological and Population Health Sciences,
the largest accredited nutrition and dietetics program in the
state of Oregon. “We felt we could make a significant dif-
ference by focusing on the health of children and pregnant
women who are Medicaid members,” says Roth.
Students participating in the post-baccalaureate intern-
ships will have previously earned their Bachelor of Science
degrees. Their internship with FamilyCare provided an
opportunity to gain required clinical experience. OSU’s
dietetics program provides the coursework and training to
enter supervised internships and pass the Registered Dieti-
tian examination.
“Typically, dietetic students primarily intern at nursing
homes, dialysis centers and hospitals geared toward nutri-
tion care of elderly populations,” explains Roth. “This
project offers an opportunity for students to help improve
health outcomes for younger patients, setting women and
kids on a healthy path for the long term.”
Hillary Lawson, an OSU dietician intern is currently
working with WHA this fall and has already put in four
weeks toward her six-week rotation at clinics in Tualatin
and Newberg. When Lawson started, she had an under-
standing of the role she was going to play in pregnant
women’s lives, but was uncertain where it would lead. What
she could be sure of, however, was her ability to lead her
patients on a path of healthy eating habits. “By connecting
with women in the primary care setting, we could be the
first line of prevention, not defense,” says Lawson. “We can
help pregnant women establish healthier eating habits, and
they in turn can pass along those behaviors to their infants
and young children.”
With rates of childhood obesity at epidemic levels in the
U.S., project leaders say it has never been more crucial to
introduce good nutrition to pregnant women. “One of our
biggest challenges is childhood obesity and all of the com-
plications that come with it,” says FamilyCare’s medical
director and pediatrician Dr. Resa Bradeen.
Project leaders say it has never
been more crucial to
introduce good nutrition to
pregnant women.
About FamilyCare
FamilyCare, Inc. is a Medicare and Medicaid managed
care organization providing patient-centered healthcare to
Oregonians. FamilyCare was the first health plan in Oregon
to integrate models of physical and mental health and was
the first Coordinated Care Organization in the tri-county
area certified by the Oregon Health Authority. FamilyCare
serves approximately 50,000 members and has been deliv-
ering quality health care for almost 30 years. Under the
direction of President and CEO Jeff Heatherington, Family-
Care’s mission is “Creating healthy individuals through
innovative systems.”
November 13, 2013
The Portland Skanner Page 7