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| November 18, 2020 |
OAND E-NewsBites November/December 2020President's MessageMary-Jon Ludy Dear members of the OAND community: November is the month of gratitude and thankfulness. As OAND members, I encourage you to ponder the past, appreciate the present, and contemplate the future. I hope that you will join me in reflecting on the past, present, and future of our profession and organization. Past. I am thankful for the visionary women who, in the midst of World War I and the recovery efforts that followed, came together to found our national organization in 1917 and our state affiliate in 1921. I look forward to celebrating that rich history at our 100th Annual Conference, 100 Ways to be a Dietetics Professional on April 16, 2021. Present. I am thankful for the ingenuity, compassion, and resilience of our OAND members. When faced with a global pandemic, our members skillfully cared for patients on the frontlines and rapidly adapted services for telehealth delivery. When faced with racial unrest, our members committed to educational/training activities and meaningful actions that support diversity, equity, and inclusion. When faced with public policy challenges that affect the nutrition and health of our state and nation, our members made their voices heard. Future. I am thankful for the 721 student members of our OAND community who represent the future of qualified nutrition practitioners. Student members: I encourage you to be proactive and immerse yourselves in all the unique benefits that the Academy and our profession have to offer. Your OAND colleagues and I are counting on your creative ideas and advocacy to shape the next generation of nutrition and dietetics. Active/retired members: I hope that you will join me in donating to OAND’s Sponsor A Student Initiative, to enable these emerging professionals to attend our Annual Conference, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation, to support scholarships for continuing education. With great thanks and optimism! Mary-Jon Ludy, PhD, RDN, FAND Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee UpdateAlexa Robinson-O'Neill, DEI Committee
This fall, the group expanded its name beyond simply “diversity,” and has created a working mission statement: To actively advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion within Ohio's dietetic profession by providing education, resources, and support for OAND's membership and the public they serve. We meet regularly to envision what we need to accomplish and how best to communicate with and enable our members to understand and act on this mission, as well. To lay a foundation of a common language as well as a deeper understanding of how to proceed, the committee (joined by the OAND Board) has completed the first phase of an intensive evaluative and training program, concluding by early 2021. Undergoing this formal training will enable us to identify areas for our own growth and to enhance our ability to identify and communicate strategies to make significant changes within our membership. This includes not only recruitment and exposure but also retention of professionals in our field. To explore your own potential implicit biases, you may follow this link for a series of mini-screening tools. There is no reporting, no training, and no fee for these, but you may begin to think differently about how you view the world. Take the time to consider your own views, and then make the time to discuss with others. Project Implicit: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html As we work toward planning a system of statewide recognition, we encourage each of you to think creatively to implement inclusive strategies in your local chapter, business, school, and community. Whether you generate ideas for outreach, education, awareness, or any other event, please send reports to your district president so they may be shared in this newsletter. Your ideas will inspire others, and vice-versa. The more we share, the more we can act. To learn more, and for additional resources, please navigate to the DEI section of the OAND website. Watch this space for news from the DEI committee, and please don’t hesitate to send us your thoughts, ideas, and progress. Thank you!
Policy updatePat McKnight, State Policy Representative
Remember that if you have not renewed your license, December 1st is the deadline. It might be good to check the Medical Board e-license list to be sure your new license is listed if you did not retain the receipt from the Medical Board after you completed the renewal. The receipt is your proof. We had hoped to have the March 17th Policy Day at the Statehouse, but the current increase in COVID-19 cases makes it impossible for us to plan an in-person event in March. We will have a virtual Policy Day on March 17th so save the date and you will hear more.
News from the Greater Cleveland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics District (GCAND)Kelli Santiago, GCAND As we head into Fall, one can look back at this year as one that will certainly go down in history. As health care professionals, we banded together with our fellow colleagues and braved the frontlines of a global pandemic. Even if you don’t work in a clinical setting, no dietitian or diet technician was unaffected by the momentous impact from COVID-19. However, pandemic aside, there was another topic that was thrust into the spotlight this year that affected us just as powerfully…diversity. It’s not news that the field of dietetics isn’t very diverse with an estimated 82% of all dietitians being white and over 90% being female. And while The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics along with states such as Ohio work to improve this through committee efforts, local chapters must also put forth an effort to advance our profession in a direction that not only promotes diversity but also equity. Given their home of Cuyahoga County, GCAND decided to take this topic head-on during the first 2020-2021 member meeting. This year GCAND kicked off the year with a thought provoking seminar on diversity titled Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access in Our Profession: Join the Journey from speaker Aida Miles, EDD, MMCD, RDN, LD, LMNT, FAND. During the meeting, Aida provided an inside look into the current state of diversity within our profession, identified barriers to growth along with actions we can all take to help improve diversity and equity within the dietetics profession all while reflecting on her own actions and experiences as a dietitian and internship director. She wove facts about diversity into real-life examples of how she has grown to approach her interactions with others in a way that prioritizes diversity and inclusion. GCAND looks forward to continuing its efforts to promote diversity and equity in the field of dietetics and will continue to work hard to keep the conversation going by welcoming feedback from its members or others in the field. We believe that improved diversity is everyone’s responsibility and hope that one day our field will look as diverse as the patients we serve, the students we teach, and the staff that we work with. Nutrition Ninja, Member SpotlightCarrie Hamady, Membership Chair Dema Halasa Esper, MS, RDN, LD This month’s Nutrition Ninja is Dema Halasa Esper, MS, RDN, LD. She is faculty in the Department of Health Professions at Youngstown State University, a position she has held for twelve years. She is a graduate of The University of Akron, Bachelor of Science in Dietetics Coordinated Program. After spending five years in clinical dietetics, she returned to school for a Master of Nutrition and Food Science at Wayne State University. Currently, Dema is a Ph.D. student in Health Sciences at Youngstown State University. She decided to return to school to further her training as an educator in academia and dietetic research. Recently, the courses she has taken have led to new interests in topics such as Food Insecurity and the Role of Microbiome. When given a chance, she promotes the role of the dietetic professional and encourages her colleagues, dietetic students, and health professional peers to consider gut health and nutrition in its incredible role in overall health, and disease prevention and treatment. Through her work in food insecurity, Dema spends her time supporting community efforts to ensure nutrition matters, such as at the local soup kitchen, rescue missions, and food drives and pantries. Here are some links to the community partners she works with, including the Youngstown State University Food Pantry: https://www.svdpusa.org As a first-generation Arab-American, she is proud of her cultural influence and how it has taught her to love family and community and to readily share the blessings of a rich table full of delicious foods with those around you! Furthermore, she uses and encourages food as healing with her family – particularly, her 16-year-old daughter (Catherine) and 13-year-old son (Anthony). As faculty, her interests and courses have been centered around Nutrition Assessment; Maternal, Infant and Child Nutrition; and Medical Nutrition Therapy. During her tenure, she has also had other opportunities to train and work with dietetic students and preceptors alike in using Nutrition Focused Physical Assessment (NFPA) Skills within the Nutrition Care Process Model (NCPM). She and her colleagues have had the opportunity to share their interprofessional training approach with other dietetic educators at the Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE), as well as at a state affiliate conference. Dema has also had the opportunity to train and work with other clinical dietitians in using NFPA skills within the NCPM at various hospitals around the United States, an opportunity through Abbott Nutrition Speaker’s Bureau. Her interest and work experiences have spanned at various academic and university hospitals as a Nutrition Support Intensive Care and GI Nutrition Support Dietitian in hospitals in Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh. She has spoken on various nutrition support topics at local, state, and national conferences and has published in various nutrition journals. Thank you, Dema, for all you do for your community, the students, and preceptors at YSU, and the profession of dietetics! If you have a colleague in mind to nominate as the next Nutrition Ninja, please email Carrie Hamady at carrieh@bgsu.edu. Save the Date for the OAND
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