Module 4: Resources for Learning Development

Nutrition and Dietetics

Commission on Dietetic Registration
CDR protects the public through credentialing processes of dietetics practitioners. More than 78,000 dietitians and dietetic technicians across the country and the world have taken CDR exams over the past several decades. CDR currently awards six separate and distinct credentials: Registered Dietitian (RD); Dietetic Technician, Registered (DTR); Board Certified Specialist in Renal Nutrition (CSR); and Board Certified Specialist in Pediatric Nutrition (CSP), Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) and Board Certified Specialist in Gerontological Nutrition (CSG).  The Commission's RD/DTR certification programs are fully accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA), the accrediting arm of the National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) based in Washington, D.C. This accreditation, which reflects achievement of the highest standards of professional credentialing.

American Dietetic Association
With nearly 67,000 members, the American Dietetic Association is the nation's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals. ADA was founded in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1917 by a visionary group of women, led by Lenna F. Cooper and ADA's first president, Lulu C. Graves, dedicated to helping the government conserve food and improve the public's health and nutrition during World War I. ADA's commitment to helping people enjoy healthy lives brings the Association into the forefront of five critical health areas facing all Americans: obesity and overweight, with a focus on children, healthy aging, safe, sustainable and nutritious food supply, nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics, and integrative medicine, including supplements and alternative medicine.

Knowledge Path: Child & Adolescent Nutrition
Maternal and Child Health Library
This knowledge path about child and adolescent nutrition has been compiled by the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Library at Georgetown University. It offers a selection of recent, high-quality resources that analyze data, describe public health campaigns and other promotion programs, and report on research aimed at identifying promising strategies for improving nutrition and eating behaviors within families, schools, and communities. The path also identifies tools for staying abreast of new developments and conducting further research. It is aimed at health professionals, policymakers, educators, and families, and it will be updated periodically.

MCH Nutrition: Maternal and Child Health Training
A collaborative website of the MCH Training Grantee Network

WIC Works Resource Center
Provides nutrition service tools for health and nutrition professionals.

Leadership, Education and Training Program in Maternal and Child Nutrition
The Leadership, Education and Training (LET) Program in Maternal and Child Nutrition provides graduate education and training and continuing education programs for Registered Dietitians, nutritionists and other health professionals who are interested in developing a specialization in maternal and child nutrition.  The LET program is part of the graduate program in public health nutrition, located in the Division of Epidemiology within the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota. Areas of faculty expertise and specialization include: maternal nutrition, child and adolescent nutrition, prevention of eating disorders, childhood obesity, school and community nutrition intervention programs, dietary assessment methods, nutritional epidemiology, and factors affecting child and adolescent growth and development. This program is supported through a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Health Resources and Services Administration, Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Today’s Dietitian
Today’s Dietitian is a news and recruitment publication for RDs and nutrition professionals. The publication contains the latest clinical issues, career development strategies, food and technology trends, and advances in research affecting professional practice today and tomorrow.

Association of State & Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors
The Association of State & Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors (ASTPHND) is a 501(c)(3)non-profit membership organization that provides national and state leadership on food and nutrition policy, programs, and services.

Legislation, policy, and advocacy

The Library of Congress: Thomas
THOMAS was launched in January of 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress. The leadership of the 104th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make federal legislative information freely available to the public. Since that time THOMAS has expanded the scope of its offerings to include the following features: bills & resolutions, activity in Congress, congressional records, schedules & calendars, committee information, presidential nominations, treaties, and government resources.

United States government portal

Federal Register
Published by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents.

US Government Printing Office
The U.S. Government Printing Office disseminates official information from all three branches of the Federal Government.

Project Vote-smart.org
Project Vote Smart, a citizen's organization, has developed a Voter's Self-Defense System to provide voters with the tools to self-govern. As a national library of factual information, Project Vote Smart covers candidates and elected officials in five basic categories: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances and interest group ratings.

Maternal and Child Health Bureau
US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration
Vision: A future America in which the right to grow to one's full potential is universally assured through attention to the comprehensive physical, psychological and social needs of the maternal and child health population. We strive for a society where children are wanted and born with optimal health, receive quality care and are nurtured lovingly and sensitively as they mature into healthy, productive adults. MCHB seeks a nation where there is equal access for all to quality health care in a supportive, culturally competent, family and community setting.

Food and Nutrition Service
United States Department of Agriculture
The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), formerly known as the Food and Consumer Service, administers the nutrition assistance programs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The mission of FNS is to provide children and needy families better access to food and a more healthful diet through its food assistance programs and comprehensive nutrition education efforts.  FNS has elevated nutrition and nutrition education to a top priority in all its programs. In addition to providing access to nutritious food, FNS also works to empower program participants with knowledge of the link between diet and health.

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children serves to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, & children up to age 5 who are at nutritional risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to health care

School meals
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
National School Lunch Program: Provides nutritious lunches and the opportunity to practice skills learned in classroom nutrition education.  This program also offers after-school snacks in sites that meet eligibility requirements. School Breakfast Program: Provides nutritious breakfasts to promote learning readiness and healthy eating behaviors.  Special Milk Program: Offers milk to children who do not have access to other meal programs.

Food Stamp Program
US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service
The Food Stamp Program serves as the first line of defense against hunger. It enables low-income families to buy nutritious food with Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. Food stamp recipients spend their benefits to buy eligible food in authorized retail food stores.  The Program is the cornerstone of the Federal food assistance programs, and provides crucial support to needy households and to those making the transition from welfare to work.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity
CDC's Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity (DNPA) takes a public health approach to address the role of nutrition and physical activity in improving the public's health and preventing and controlling chronic diseases. The scope of DNPA activities includes epidemiological and behavioral research, surveillance, training and education, intervention development, health promotion and leadership, policy and environmental change, communication and social marketing, and partnership development.

Administration on Aging
The Administration on Aging (AoA), an agency in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is one of the nation's largest providers of home- and community-based care for older persons and their caregivers. Our mission is to develop a comprehensive, coordinated and cost-effective system of long-term care that helps elderly individuals to maintain their dignity in their homes and communities. Our mission statement also is to help society prepare for an aging population.

Leadership

National Public Health Leadership Institute
The National Public Health Leadership Institute (PHLI) is an innovative, 12-month leadership development program funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This decade-old program is now being offered by the Center for Creative Leadership and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  Kenan-Flagler Business School and  School of Public Health. Leadership development is via distance learning.

Collaborative Leadership
Collaborative leadership in public health: leadership shown by a group that is acting collaboratively to solve agreed upon issues, uses supportive and inclusive methods to ensure that all people affected by a decision are part of the change process; and requires a new notion of power...the more power we share, the more power we have to use. This site offers tools, resources, and training information about collaborative leadership, with a special focus on developing public health leaders.

Maternal and Child Health Leadership Competencies
This document defines MCH leadership, identifies core MCH Leadership Competencies. outlines the knowledge and skill areas required of MCH Leaders, provides a conceptual framework for the development of an MCH Leader, and describes how MCH Leadership Competencies might be used by a variety of audiences.

Management

Free Management Library: Basic Guide for Program Evaluation
This document provides guidance toward planning and implementing an evaluation process for for-profit or nonprofit programs -- there are many kinds of evaluations that can be applied to programs, for example, goals-based, process-based, outcomes-based, etc.

Issel, LM.  Program Planning and Evaluation. Toronto: Jones & Barlett, 2004.

Cultural competency

The National Center for Cultural Competence
The mission of the National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC) is to increase the capacity of health and mental health programs to design, implement, and evaluate culturally and linguistically competent service delivery systems.

Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services: Early Childhood Research Institute
The Early Childhood Research Institute on Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) is a federally-funded collaborative effort of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Council for Exceptional Children, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education, and the ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. The CLAS Institute is funded by the Office of Special Education Programs of the U.S. Department of Education.  The CLAS Institute identifies, evaluates, and promotes effective and appropriate early intervention practices and preschool practices that are sensitive and respectful to children and families from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Cultural Competence Resources for Health Care Providers
US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Division