Q & A with Louise Zeile and Sarah McConnell for ‘Rural Nutrition and Health Change’ class!

Louise Zeile, RN BA BSN is a Registered Nurse as well as the Diabetes Community Educator for Eastern Aleutian Tribes and is based out of Sand Point, Alaska. She has recently organized a college accredited course that will be available here at the Sand Point Medical Clinic. We recently spoke with Sarah McConnell, LCSW who is the Program Manager of Nutrition Projects for University of Alaska, Fairbanks. We asked Sarah and Louise a few questions about this upcoming event as well as the new Diabetes Program that is now available here in Sand Point.

Question: What is the class that will be offered and when will it be available?

Sarah McConnell: The course is “Rural Nutrition and Health Change” for one credit. It will be offered Feb. 15 & 16, 2011 in Sand Point, meeting from 9 AM – 4 PM each day including a “working” lunch.

Question: How do you see this class benefiting people who take it and the community as a whole?

Sarah McConnell: There are no guarantees just what benefit a person will get from this course. I took this course several years ago, before I was approved to teach it. After that, I called it the “secret de-coder ring” because I learned so many basic, practical skills that helped me make health improvements I had been trying for and not succeeding at. It was like the teacher turned on a flood light for me, and I still thank her for doing that. I loved food, before I took the class, and I still love food – I just understand it much better and I pay better attention to what I eat. I’m more respectful about food and about what it does for my health. I do think each person that takes the course can find different benefits in the course – some start their way to better health, more energy, choosing healthier foods and/or beverages, getting more active, or managing their stress in a healthier way – some even lose weight, some renew their celebration of traditional Alaska Native foods and re-connect with the health value of traditional foods, some just have a good time. We learn a lot from each other during the class.

How it may benefit the community as a whole – wow, that’s up to the community members. We hear a lot these days about health care challenges, food security, and lots of challenges that are related to what we eat, our activity level, stress – basically how we treat ourselves, and each other. My hope is that I can share some information, tools, and skills for making informed choices for better health. What I’ve seen happen in other classes is that, in the process of sharing in class, community members begin to work together and talk with each other about supporting health. It’s all about what Sand Point is ready for, how the community sees and values health, and what they want to do for themselves, their children and their Elders. There are so many possibilities, and that’s the exciting part, especially when you have other community members supporting you, encouraging you to be healthy. I’m really looking forward to meeting the people of Sand Point and sharing what we know with each other. Thank you for the opportunity to visit your community.

Question:  What is the 1 year goal of your new Diabetes Program for the community of Sand Point?

Louise Zeile: The Diabetes program for Eastern Aleutian Tribes is funded under a competitive grant through the Indian Health Service. The grant is called the Special Diabetes Programs for Indians (SDPI).  As funded, any program goals are set forth in the application process.  Currently, the Eastern Aleutian Tribes grant Department; in conjunction with Medical professionals employed by EATs have established two areas of focus for the SDPI program.  These areas, called Best Practices, are: Nutrition and Physical Activity.  Consequently, the Rural Nutrition course which is being offered in February is fitting as a program within grant guidelines.  It is my job as SDPI Coordinator to ensure that programming falls within grant guidelines and those measures are collected for reports to the federal government.  Such reporting ensures that EATs will remain competitive for future funding allocations.