Fundamentals of Community Nutrition

Community nutrition is a field that aims to improve the health and well-being of individuals and groups within a community through nutrition education, counseling, prevention, and referrals. Its goals include addressing community problems and considering socioeconomic, political, cultural, and psychological aspects of food.

Community nutrition focuses on the micro-level approach of improving the health and well-being of individuals and groups within a community, while public health nutrition focuses on the macro-level approach of leadership through assessments, advocacy, and environmental change.

The three arenas of public health nutrition are people, policy, and programs.

Public health refers to societal efforts to promote and restore people's health. It has evolved from focusing on sanitation and communicable diseases in the past to addressing chronic diseases in the present.

The top three leading causes of death in the U.S. are heart disease, cancer, and stroke.

Primary prevention refers to measures taken to prevent the onset of illness or injury before the disease process begins. An example of primary prevention is vaccinations and promoting healthy lifestyles.

Primary prevention focuses on preventing the onset of illness or injury, while secondary prevention involves early detection and intervention to halt the progression of an illness or injury at an early stage.

The purpose of tertiary prevention is to manage and mitigate complications of chronic diseases, rehabilitate those affected by disease or injury, and prevent further deterioration or complications.

Three trends in the healthcare system are an increase in managed care (HMO's, PPO's, POS plans), increased costs (due to technology, aging population, consumer demands, and unhealthy lifestyles), and the practice of defensive medicine.

Three benefits of interprofessional collaboration in healthcare are: empowering team members, closing communication gaps, enabling comprehensive patient care, reducing readmission rates, promoting a team mentality, and promoting patient-centered care.

The fourth key for the Quadruple Aim in healthcare is improving work life or preventing burnout of healthcare providers.

Three types of health insurance are fee-for-service (private), managed care (private), and public (Medicare & Medicaid).

The purpose of the triple aim framework is to optimize and measure health systems performance by focusing on improved patient experience (satisfaction), better population health, and lower per capita cost.

Two examples of public health insurance programs are Medicare and Medicaid.

The two components of the triple aim framework are improved patient experience (satisfaction) and better population health.