Volunteers Needed for Weight Management, Nutrition Counseling Experience

10/06/2017

Dietetic students are seeking volunteers from the SLU community for weight management and nutrition counseling experiences.

Appointments are available from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 1 or Friday, Nov. 3. Follow-up appointments will be set between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 29 or Friday, Dec. 1. Other dates may be arranged if needed.

At the scheduled sessions, dietetic students will perform a brief nutrition assessment and determine energy needs for the volunteer. Students then will help the volunteer develop behavior-change goals for a healthy lifestyle approach to weight management using motivational interviewing. The first session will last about 60 minutes, and the second meeting will take approximately 30 minutes for follow-up goal setting. Sessions will be videotaped to aid the student in improving their counseling skills.

Senior dietetic students in the department, who are not registered dietitians, will use this experience to prepare for dietetic internships and future professional practice. Because the exercise is conducted by students, volunteers should not be following a special physician-recommended diet. Volunteers will need to complete a three-day food record, a nutrition history and a weight history form, which will be emailed to participants by the student counselors. The forms should be returned to the student counselor so that they can prepare for the session.

Anyone interested in helping students develop their counseling skills should call the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics at 314-977-8523 or email Allie Howard with her or his preferred appointment date and time, phone number and email address.

The students are supervised by Amy Moore, Ph.D.  This event is part of the lab for her course, DIET 4500.