CEPH faculty represented at international nutrition education conference

The Center for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH) at the University of New England was represented by two presenters at the annual International Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior conference, held in Washington, D.C. from July 20 to 23, 2023.

Michele Polacsek, Ph.D., M.H.S., professor and CEPH director, and Lori Kaley, M.S., RDN, M.S.B., program manager for Maine SNAP-Ed, attended the meeting and presented posters. The conference’s theme was “Empowering Food Citizens: Together for Nutrition and Food Systems Transformation. Re-connect, Re-nourish, Re-inspire.”

Polacsek presented a poster entitled, “A university-low-income-housing partnership to support food security, healthy shopping, eating, health and wellness among seniors in rural Maine: Preliminary findings,” co-authored by Tom Meuser, Ph.D., founding director of the UNE Center for Excellence in Aging and Health; Mary Bachman DeSilva, Sc.D., M.S., associate director for research in CEPH; and Maggie Gamble (M.S.W., ’25).

The presentation outlined the researchers’ delivery of an evidence-based nutrition education series in partnership with a health sciences university in a COVID-19-responsive manner. The researchers found that that seniors experienced far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including on nutrition, which they maintain is critical for healthful independent aging.

According to the authors, the program improved nutrition, diet, and other outcomes for low-income seniors. The project is being funded by the Administration for Community Living Department of Health and Human Services.

Kaley collaborated with Altarum, external evaluator for Maine SNAP-Ed, to present the research poster, “Process to develop a shared measurement system for Maine State Nutrition Action Council (SNAC),” which maintains that a shared measurement system allows for the systematic compilation of data from multiple partners to demonstrate progress toward achieving mutual goals and highlighting collective impact.

Maine SNAP-Ed is implemented by UNE through a contract with Maine’s Office for Family Independence and addresses nutrition security and wellness in low-resource settings across the state. Funding comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is granted to over 160 agencies throughout the nation. Implementing agencies include universities, nonprofits, state health and agriculture departments, and Tribal entities.