Implementing healthy diets and exercise in a community outreach clinic

As a practicing clinician in a chiropractic community outreach clinic, I find that a large percentage of the patients we treat are overweight or obese. The majority of these patients believe that they have a good diet, usually skip one meal per day, eat less than the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables and eat out at fast food restaurants three times per week. The recently implemented wellness competencies in chiropractic education have provided an enhanced opportunity to help these patients as well as to guide students in patient education.

In training students to assist all patients of low socioeconomic status who want help to plan healthier menus and increase their exercise we based our recommendations on the USDA Pyramid and CCE wellness guidelines. I tried to focus student guidance toward simple observations, such as: how do your clothes fit, do you feel stronger, can you walk further without feeling tired? We also monitored patient weight and vital signs.

Interns assisted patients in menu planning and exercise follow-up. Patients gained support from interns, and interns learned how to incorporate specific objectives toward promoting wellness in their own practices upon graduation.