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Volunteers Needed for Free Weight Management and Healthy Habit Counseling Sessions

10/19/2023

Dietetic students are seeking volunteers for a 4-session personalized nutrition counseling experience. Sessions will occur in the Allied Health Building.

The sessions are designed to help people make healthier choices or meet personal weight loss goals that they are struggling to make. The students will help volunteers work towards achieving a healthy lifestyle.

Sessions will occur on the following Wednesdays:

Anyone unavailable during those times who would still would like to participate should contact organizers who will try to make accommodations. 

At the scheduled sessions, student counselors will perform a brief nutrition assessment and determine your energy needs. Using motivational interviewing, student counselors will then help you develop behavior-change goals for a healthy lifestyle approach to weight management or your individual health goals. 

The first session will last about 60 minutes, and the second and third meetings will take between 30-60 minutes, depending on goals and preference. Student counselors will record the sessions to aid in improving their counseling skills.

Because students conduct the exercise, volunteers should not be following a special physician-recommended diet. Senior dietetic students in the department, who are not registered dietitians, will use this experience to prepare for dietetic internships and future professional practice.

Volunteers will be asked to complete a three-day food record, a nutrition history, and a weight history form, which student counselors will email to participants.

Anyone interested in helping the students practice their counseling skills should reserve their spot. 

Maria Romo-Palafox, Ph.D., will be supervising the practice as part of her course, DIET 4500. Contact her at maria.romopalafox@health.slu.edu.