(P04-015-23) Investigating Effectiveness of Online Learning of Nutrition Education to Interprofessional Students Volunteering at a Student Run Free Clinic

Objectives: To investigate the effectiveness of an online nutrition education training module on improving confidence in delivering heart healthy nutrition information to patients among a group of interprofessional students volunteering at the 12^th Street Health and Wellness Center (HWC).

Methods: Student volunteers from the 12^th Street HWC who chose to participate in this study (n=13) watched a 15-minute online education module on heart healthy diet and creating SMART goals. The module included a video demonstration of creating SMART goals. After the online education module, participants were led to a short survey to evaluate their change in confidence of their ability and knowledge in six topics related to the education module (n=12).

Results: Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data from the survey completed by participants. Forty-two percent (n=5) of participants felt more confident in their ability to educate patients and their families on the difference between saturated and unsaturated fat after completing the online education module. Sixty-seven percent (n=8) of participants felt more confident in their ability to educate patients and their families on the sodium content of foods after completing the online education module. Fifty percent (n=6) of participants felt more confident in their ability to educate patients and their families on cholesterol after completing the online education module. Fifty-eight percent (n=7) of participants felt more confident in their ability to educate patients and their families on the heart healthy diet after completing the online education module. Fifty-eight percent (n=7) of participants felt more confident in their ability to create SMART goals after completing the online education module. Forty-two percent (n=5) of participants felt more confident in their knowledge of understanding the relationship between nutrition, diet, and heart disease.

Conclusions: Results indicated that online education modules can be beneficial to interprofessional students in gaining confidence in knowledge of heart healthy nutrition and in delivering heart healthy nutrition information to patients and their families. Due to the small sample size, additional research is needed to further confirm the results from the study.

Funding Sources: Department of Dietetics and Nutrition at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.