Department News

Physician Wins Award for High Colorectal Cancer Screening Rate

Dr. Clinton Smith with 1^st Choice Healthcare was named the Arkansas Cancer Coalition Healthcare Provider of the Year at the Arkansas Cancer Summit March 7 for his 75 percent rate of colorectal cancer screening with his patients.

The family physician has participated in the UAMS Partnerships in Colorectal Cancer Screening for Arkansas (PiCS-AR!) since 2020, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant that seeks to raise colorectal cancer screening rates in the state. His 75 percent rate is closing in on the national goal of 80 percent set by the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable.

Clinton Smith, DO, physician with 1st Choice Healthcare in Corning, Arkansas

Smith’s first year with the PiCS-AR! grant showed a screening rate of 65 percent. His rate grew to 70 percent in 2021 and has escalated in one year to 75 percent. He said the reasons for his higher screening rate stem from frequently reminding the patients of screening, making it easy for them to screen, and relaying the facts.

“Each time I have a checkup with a patient (not even necessarily a wellness checkup), I try to mention (screening) and see if they’re due for anything. And if they are, we try to go ahead and facilitate that and get it set up,” said Smith. “The best time to (mention) it, in my opinion, is when you see them. Sometimes people are non-compliant and you may not see them for a while. Now, it does take extra time, and sometimes I get behind, but I feel that prevention is the key. It’s better to prevent a problem than to have to treat it later.”

Smith gives his patients several screening options: stool-based tests and a colonoscopy. The stool-based tests (FIT or Cologuard) require that the patient send a sample of their stool in the mail, which takes minutes and is not invasive and requires no dieting, fasting or anesthesia. The colonoscopy is considered the most accurate for colorectal cancer screening, but with his rural patient population in northeast Arkansas, arranging a colonoscopy can be cost- and time-prohibitive.

“I tell them about the options and let them decide. I think the FIT tests have helped a lot. We’re rural, so to get a colonoscopy, you not only have to take a day off of work, you have to drive 30 miles outside of town,” said Smith.

Colorectal cancer is the second deadliest cancer for Americans, and it’s on the rise with younger age groups, according to the American Cancer Society. The rate of new colorectal cancer cases among Americans younger than 55 increased from 11 percent of all cases in 1995 to 20 percent in 2019. The recommended screening age for those with average risk is 45, which the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force lowered from age 50 two years ago because of this new trend. Screening at an earlier age means cancer will be caught in its first stage and is highly treatable if detected early.

Smith also credits his employer, 1^st Choice Healthcare, for allowing him to spend more time with his patients who are often chronically ill and require more than the suggested 15 minutes many physicians are tethered to. 1^st Choice is one of two healthcare partners working with the PiCS-AR! five-year grant. Mid-Delta Healthcare System in eastern Arkansas is the latest system to join.

Virtual family medicine conference Oct. 24 – 27 offers up to 18 hours of content

UAMS’ 27th Annual Family Medicine Update with Tobacco & Disease Symposium will offer up to 18 hours of online continuing education October 24–27 for primary care physicians, doctors of osteopathic medicine, advanced practice registered nurses, registered nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, physical therapists, respiratory therapists and certified health educators.

Presented by the UAMS College of Medicine, the annual conference provides an opportunity for health care professionals to learn about the latest advances and information impacting family medicine.

Pilar Murphy, PharmD, has the latest updates on pharmacology for heart failure.

The conference is completely virtual. Courses are offered in two-hour blocks, twice daily, at $40 per block, with sessions on Friday, Oct. 27, at no cost. Friday’s session offers three, two-hour blocks of content.

To register, visit https://cvent.me/nRD90O or call 501-686-6626 by Oct. 23.

Several talks on cardiovascular issues will feature Andre Ramdon, M.D., who will speak on peripheral arterial disease and aortic aneurysms, and pharmacist Pilar Murphy will speak on the pharmacology to treat heart failure.

Lester Matlock, CFP, will offer practice tips for providers with his talk on “Work Until You Drop,” and physical therapist Andy Glidewell will give practical physical therapy pointers that providers can use in their practice.

Two experts will speak on opioid issues. Michael Mancino, M.D., professor at the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute and program director for the Center for Addiction Services and Treatment, will discuss treating Opioid Use Disorder in primary care. Karen Burks, M.D., a family physician, will also be speaking on opioid use and prescribing.

Michael Mancino, MD, will speak on Opioid Use Disorder

The block on “Cravings to Consequences” will feature a talk on eating disorders with Laura Jones, APRN, who works with adolescents at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and Elizabeth Cleveland, PhD, is slated to talk on fetal alcohol syndrome disorder.

Other topics include maternal depression with Nikki Edge, PhD, and Shashank Kraleti, M.D., chair of the UAMS Dept. of Family and Preventive Medicine, and young onset colorectal cancer with Smita Krishnamurthi, M.D., with the Cleveland Clinic’s Dept. of Hematology and Oncology.

Friday will be dedicated to the Tobacco & Disease Symposium with talks centered on tobacco cessation strategies, talking to patients about quitting tobacco and how tobacco/nicotine products are engineered to be more addictive.

Symposium speakers include Emily Einstein, PhD, chief of science policy at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who will talk on topics for teens regarding tobacco, alcohol and drug use; Aaron Weiner, PhD, owner of Bridge Forward Group; and Angela Criswell, MA, director for GO2 for Lung Cancer, whose talk will focus on lung cancer screening as part of tobacco cessation.

Crafton Tull, SPAN Win Regional Award for US Bike Route 80

Dave Roberts & Julie Kelso with Crafton Tull and Leesa Freasier with SPAN hold up award — Dave Roberts and Julie Kelso with Crafton Tull flank Leesa Freasier with SPAN

A team from Crafton Tull, State Physical Activity and Nutrition, Arkansas Department of Transportation, Metroplan and Arkansas Department of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Heritage spent more than a year studying potential routes for the US Bike Route 80 in eastern Arkansas.

The American Society of Landscape Architects Central States recently awarded planning firm Crafton Tull a merit award for its 113-page U.S. Bike Route 80 feasibility study, competing with 100 submissions from eight states. The bicycle route, which connects central Arkansas to the Tennessee border, covers 177 miles of rural byways. UAMS’ State Physical Activity and Nutrition grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated on the study, evaluating towns along two proposed routes to see which one offered safer and better amenities for long-distance cycling.

The route starts in North Little Rock and meanders through England, Stuttgart, Clarendon, Marianna, Hughes, winding up in West Memphis. It was officially designated as U.S. Bike Route 80 in late 2022 by the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

A team made of up of Crafton Tull, SPAN, Arkansas Department of Transportation, Metroplan and Arkansas Department of Parks, Recreation, Tourism and Heritage began the feasibility study in 2018. The group made notes of city amenities such as health clinics, bike repair stations and cultural attractions which bicyclists would have interest in. They also kept notes on safety issues such as traffic volume, lane and shoulder widths.

The US Bike Route System is a national network of bicycle routes connecting urban and rural communities with signed roads and trails. U.S. Bicycle Routes direct bicyclists to a route through a city, county or state with new routes added each year. The U.S. Bike Route 80 will pull in more dollars from tourism and help economic development with the official designation.

Crafton Tull also won an award in 2021 from the American Planning Association’s Arkansas Chapter for “achievement in comprehensive plan design.”

Photos from US Bike Route 80 Feasibility Study

Two bike riders under trees covering roadway

Team members study wayfinding sign on route

Picture of bicyclist holding bike at Waverly Plantation

UAMS Names Shashank Kraleti, M.D., Chair of Department of Family and Preventive Medicine

By Tamara Robinson

June 12, 2023 | LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine appointed Shashank Kraleti, M.D., as chair of the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, effective July 1.

Kraleti will also hold the Dr. Algernon Sidney Garnett Chair in Family Medicine.

“Dr. Kraleti has served in numerous leadership roles since completing his residency training at UAMS and joining the faculty in 2012,” said G. Richard Smith, M.D., interim College of Medicine dean and executive vice chancellor of UAMS. “He has gained national recognition for his outstanding work to enhance the Little Rock Family Medicine Residency Program. He is highly respected by residents and faculty colleagues for his clinical skills and for the passion he brings to training outstanding family physicians.”

Kraleti has served as director of the department’s family residency program since 2016 and previously held other leadership roles in the program. He assumed the role of clinical informaticist in 2019. Since May 2022, he also has served as director of primary care services, a position he will continue to hold.

“I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve and lead my family medicine and UAMS family that I have been a part of for more than a decade,” Kraleti said. “I look forward to working towards our vision of improving the health of Arkansans by providing relationship-centered and equitable care, while training the best and brightest family physicians, and conducting pioneering research in primary care.”

He has received many honors at UAMS and the national level. Kraleti was invested as the Jack W. Kennedy Chair in Family and Preventive Medicine at UAMS in 2013. He received the College of Medicine Residency Educator-Program Director Award in 2019. Recent national honors include the 2023 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors Program Director Silver Recognition, also this year.

Kraleti succeeds Richard Turnage, M.D., vice chancellor of Regional Campuses, who has served as interim chair since July 2020.

Kraleti earned his medical degree at Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam, India, in 2005. He came to UAMS for his family medicine residency in 2009 and served as chief resident in his final year of training. He completed the National Institute for Program Director Development Fellowship in 2013-2014 and more recently completed a practice pathway Clinical Informatics Fellowship at UAMS in 2022. He also completed the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM) Leadership Education for Academic Development and Success (LEADS) fellowship in 2023.

He has been a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (FAAFP) since 2017. He is active in several other national professional organizations, including the Society of Teachers in Family Medicine, for which he serves on the Family and Behavioral Health Collaborative and the Global Health Educators Collaborative. He is a board member of the Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,240 students, 913 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

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Remembering and Honoring Leanne Whiteside-Mansell

Dear Friends of the UAMS Research and Evaluation Division,

It is with heavy hearts that we share the loss of our colleague, mentor, and friend, Leanne Whiteside-Mansell, Ed.D., on December 18, 2022.

Dr. Whiteside-Mansell joined the UAMS faculty in 1999 and directed the Research and Evaluation Division (RED) in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine for 12 years. She was Principal or Co-Investigator on more than 40 grants or contracts and had more than 130 peer-reviewed publications. Her many accomplishments include contributing to the first study of Early Head Start, a national study to explore the impact of childcare on children. She led the development of the Family Map Inventories, an innovative tool to identify family strengths and needs in families of children ages birth to 5. She was also co-developer of Together We Inspire Smart Eating (WISE), an obesity prevention program for preschool children, and participated in research to reduce childhood unintentional injuries and adult HIV. The underlying motivation for all her professional pursuits was to improve the lives of vulnerable populations. This was evident in her career as well as her personal life.

Most importantly, we will remember her as an unstoppable whirlwind of curiosity, statistical acumen, and compassion for others. These qualities fueled significant advancements in research on factors linked with the development of young children living in poverty. The RED group will continue all the great works that Dr. Whiteside Mansell began and will honor her legacy by continuing to create valuable community partnerships to benefit Arkansans.

Full Post in UAMS’ In Memoriam

Early Childhood Education Centers Use Grant Money to Make Rooms for Breastfeeding Moms

Leticia Rodriguez, director of the Lovely Sunshine Learning Center in Little Rock, has transformed a room in her childcare center into a place where staff and clients can feel comfortable breastfeeding or pumping breast milk, thanks to a $3,000 subgrant from the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s State Physical Activity and Nutrition for Arkansas (SPAN).

Before and After of Lovely Sunshine Breastfeeding Room — Lovely Sunshine Learning Center

Lovely Sunshine Learning Center is one of 15 early childcare centers that will receive the subgrants from SPAN, which is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity. SPAN seeks to encourage breastfeeding in early childcare settings because research has shown that children who breastfeed six months or more may reduce their risk of obesity as well as severe asthma, SIDS, ear infections and some chronic diseases.

Rodriguez has used the money to buy two nursery swivel chairs, a colorful throw rug, mini-refrigerator, lamp with USB outlets, boppy pillow, bookshelf and framed pictures for décor. She also wants a drape that will separate the room so two mothers can privately breastfeed at the same time. SPAN will also supply milk storage bags, posters and pamphlets.

Sierra and her child Indigo no longer have to breastfeed in the reception area.

“I have a breastfeeding mom (parent of a student) and one staff member that breastfeed. My employee doesn’t care if anyone sees her breastfeed, but the mom was not comfortable in the room. She breastfed in the reception area which isn’t private because staff members and parents are always coming through,” said Rodriguez, who completed the room September 2022. “So far, the response has been good!”

Three other childcare centers have also received the funds, and moms have immediately begun using the made-over rooms. Bingham Road Baptist Child Development Center in Pulaski County took an unused infant room and gave it a breastfeeding makeover, complete with chair, rug, mini-refrigerator, décor and covers for moms as they breastfeed their babies. A staff member and new mom were quick to use the room, with the new mom saying, “It’s so great not having to feed in my car.”

Bingham Road Baptist Child Development Center

Tonya Ritter, director/coordinator for ABC Preschool at Heber Springs Elementary, has redone an unused office at the school with a soft chair, lamp, rug and mini-refrigerator. She plans to add a plant in the corner, brochure stand, framed landscapes for the walls and a shelf to house WIC information and a book about breastfeeding for children. Supplies for the moms are conveniently stored in a basket, and the room connects with the nurse’s office in case of issues.

“It has been used by a few who had to pump in their cars on their breaks,” Ritter said. “They are so appreciative. We have a few expectant mothers who are so excited to have a place to go rather than their cars.”

Heber Springs Elementary’s makeover of its breastfeeding room.

Another childcare center that used the grant money is Janna’s Little Angels in Little Rock. Lanna Horton, director, transformed a room for storage/staff into a light-filled, colorful breastfeeding space for her families. Two moms have started using it, and the center plans to add a refrigerator to store milk. A door connects to the infant classroom, so mothers will now have a space where they can visit on their breaks, a much better solution than the director’s office.

From storage space to breastfeeding room at Janna’s Little Angels

England, AR, Closer to Approving Master Bike and Pedestrian Plan

City Seeks to Encourage Physical Activity and Economic Development

England’s city council will discuss a proposed master bike and pedestrian plan after England citizens had their say with three public meetings and an online survey. Englanders were allowed to offer their opinions on priorities and make suggestions on the plan, which will connect everyday destinations for those who walk, bike and move in a safe, convenient way. Ultimately, this plan will encourage physical activity and economic development.

Isaac Sims (left) with Crafton Tull talks to Lenny Adams about the plan at a recent public meeting.

Isaac Sims, planner with Crafton Tull which created the master plan, said the survey results weren’t particularly surprising. Fifty-five percent of the respondents said they walked three or more times per week for either recreation or transportation. Around 92 percent said they did not ride a bicycle for recreation or transportation. Citizens at the July public meeting offered valuable input on sidewalks and, as a result, Crafton Tull added a sidewalk down Southwest First Street from West Fordyce Street to Cox Drive. The network of shared use trails, sidewalks and bike paths will equal approximately 17.25 miles.

Dave Roberts with Crafton Tull points out the potential for reworked sidewalks and a park to Leesa Freasier, physical activity coordinator with SPAN, on the walk audit in 2021.

The planning began last summer. The State Physical Activity and Nutrition for Arkansas (SPAN), part of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), funded the plan and helped organize a walk audit of downtown England to find trouble spots for pedestrians and bicyclists. A year later, the public weighed in on the initial drafts.

Mari Ben Newton, who moved to England in 2000 and attended the second public meeting in July, said she was most interested in a sidewalk on Nichols Street because she sees school kids walking that route every morning without the benefit of a sidewalk.

England’s Chief of Police Bill Duerson was keyed on safety too.

Bill Duerson and Mari Ben Newton decide how to vote on aspects of the proposed plan.

“I really like walking paths and safer routes, especially in the summer when kids are darting in and out of traffic,” said Duerson, who grew up in England riding his bike.

At the July meeting, Julie Kelso, vice president of planning with Crafton Tull, pointed to research that showed Lonoke County residents have a higher percentage of adult obesity than other counties in Arkansas, adding that Englanders could use opportunities to walk and bike to the grocery store, library, their work or school. And with 35 percent of England families having only one vehicle, families need safe options for non-motorized travel.

“What encourages bicycling or walking?” Kelso asked the group. “Safe, comfortable lanes with points of interest. If there are no facilities (for walking or biking), the stress level is high for biking or walking. As we move into safer facilities (safest being a separate trail), the stress is lower, but the ease of installing them is also less, meaning it takes more time and money to put them in place.”

Master bike and pedestrian plan for England

The firm used trip generators to expose “hot spots” of concentrated activity, such as the intersection of U.S. Highway 165 and Arkansas Highway 15. Another factor that Crafton Tull considered was the proposed United States Bike Route 80 (USBR80), which will meander through downtown England. The USBR80 snakes from North Little Rock to West Memphis as part of a larger route system across the United States for long-distance bicyclists. The proposed route will increase economic development in the towns dotted along the path, England being one of them. In addition to the USBR80, Metroplan (a planning agency for four central Arkansas counties) hopes to tie the England master bike and pedestrian plan to its own vision for the Regional Greenways project with more than 170 miles of multiuse paths connecting Faulkner, Lonoke, Pulaski and Saline counties.

Kelso said most of England’s proposed trails are concentrated in the southern part of the town with side paths along Nichols Street, a major corridor for children walking or biking to the high school.

Many of the existing traffic signals will have bike/pedestrian traffic signals added to them, and network trailheads will be centered around parks and schools in the city.

The blacktop will feature a walking path and sunshades. Sims said the block of blacktop in downtown England will have a widened walking path circling it and may be painted green with sunshades along it to protect pedestrians from the heat. Another need is to connect the sidewalk to the Willis H. Sargent Training Academy north of town and on Henderson Road.

Food Banks Going “Green”

Arkansas Food Banks Buying Healthier Foods with Help of Color-Coding System

The six Feeding America food banks in Arkansas are spending more of their money on healthier foods to stock their inventory, growing from 16 percent in 2018 to 47 percent in 2021 because of a simple color-coding system that categorizes foods as “choose often,” “choose sometimes” or “choose rarely” based on their nutritional value. Healthy food purchases at Arkansas food pantries is up

Jill Niemeier, former project manager with UAMS’ Office of Community Health and Research in Springdale, launched the color-coding intervention four years ago, which has spurred the upward trend in healthy food spending. She started at the top level with the State Food Purchasing Program where the six Arkansas food banks purchase much of their inventory. It’s a state-funded grant managed by the Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance that allows the food banks to buy from Arkansas-based food distributors. Michelle Shope, director of food resourcing and logistics for Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance who was an early partner with Niemeier, recognized the ease and benefit of using color-coding on their food order forms so food banks could quickly identify healthy options.

Color coding foods at the food bank level trickles down to their partner agencies (food pantries) and the individuals that depend on them for food. They’ll know which foods are healthier without having to interpret complicated nutrition labels. All foods are tagged with green (choose often), yellow (choose sometimes) or orange (choose rarely) depending on their saturated fat, sodium and added sugar. Even fruits and vegetables don’t get an automatic green label because some canned or frozen options have added sodium and sugar. The coding is based on the Healthy Eating Research Nutrition Guidelines for the Charitable Food System, also known as HER.

Jill Niemeier, former project manager with UAMS’ Community Health and Research in Springdale, checks an inventory list with Value Added Food Sales operations manager, Derek Mounce.

The project grew wings when Michigan-based food distributor Value-Added Food Sales entered the state in 2021. Value-Added distributes food to non-profit and other charitable food organizations across the nation. Its new warehouse in Springdale, Arkansas, allowed food banks to buy from it through the State Food Purchase Program. The food distributor has been working with the UAMS team to sort, rank and color-code its inventory, based on nutrition information for its 200-plus food items. Niemeier said the color-coded labeling could expand beyond Arkansas, benefitting any organization that purchases from Value-Added Food Sales. The company distributes to 50 states as well as Puerto Rico.

“This partnership is very exciting,” Niemeier said. “Color coding or otherwise labeling food items is a simple intervention that has the potential for great impact. Taking the burden off of food banks and other purchasing agencies to decipher nutrition labels makes it easier for them to make informed choices about the foods they are purchasing.”

Niemeier had worked alongside the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s State Physical Activity and Nutrition for Arkansas (SPAN) which seeks to lower obesity in Arkansas by promoting healthy eating, physical activity and breastfeeding. The program is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with the goal to reduce obesity and the chronic illnesses that come with it, namely diabetes.

It’s especially important that those who are food insecure have healthy options since diabetes is more prevalent in this group. Ten percent of Americans have diabetes and a third have prediabetes, but for those who are food insecure, diabetes is twice as common, according to healthaffairs.org. Food insecurity can worsen diabetes in many ways including less access to nutritious foods, higher distress related to diabetes management, and difficult trade-offs such as choosing between food and medications.

“I believe these kinds of nutrition interventions are meaningful because diet-related diseases are more common among individuals who are food insecure, and it requires both a top-down and bottom-up approach to help mitigate that,” Niemeier said. “I hope projects like these will continue across the charitable food system so individuals will have access to healthy foods for themselves and their families.”

Mid-Delta Joins UAMS PiCS-AR! to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates

UAMS’ Partnerships for Colorectal Cancer Screening in Arkansas (PiCS-AR!) recently joined with Mid-Delta Health System to expand the number of clinics working to reduce late-stage colorectal cancer in the state. Mid-Delta has a clinic in Clarendon and DeWitt, which are in Monroe and Arkansas counties.

PiCS-AR! is a project of the UAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine’s Community Health and Education Division. In 2020, the division received a $2.5 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to increase colorectal cancer screening and reduce late-stage colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.

“We thought Mid-Delta would be a good partner because their demographics reflect those at high risk for colorectal cancer,” said Marybeth Curtis, BSN, Program Manager for the grant. “Looking at the counties they serve, they have some of the highest rates of cancer in the state. Also, the percentage of uninsured at each clinic is 12% at DeWitt and 9% in Clarendon, which hinders patients from getting a colonoscopy, the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening.”

Curtis said the rate of colorectal cancer screening in both the Clarendon and Dewitt clinics is low with Dewitt at 29.5% and Clarendon at 44%. The national goal is 80% as set by the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable. Adults should be screened for colorectal cancer beginning at age 45.

PiCS-AR! team member, Stacey George, APRN, with Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, works directly with PiCS-AR! clinics to maximize their electronic medical records to flag patients 45 and older who need screening. She also coaches the patient navigators on best practices and monitors how well the clinics are faring with screening rates.

“Mid-Delta Health Systems wanted to join PICS-AR! to increase their colorectal screenings and get our patients the care needed in the early stage of diagnosis,” said Monica Lindley, CEO of Mid-Delta Health Systems.

PiCS-AR! has also been working with 1^st Choice Healthcare in northeast Arkansas since the project began late in 2020. Since 1^st Choice joined the partnership, they’ve seen a 9% increase overall in colorectal cancer screening at their six clinics.

We Inspire… New Research!

Researchers from Ohio State University and Appalachian State University recently published a pilot study that examined the feasibility of WISE in an intergenerational setting. The paper, entitled Extending the Together, We Inspire Smart Eating Curriculum to Intergenerational Nutrition Education: A Pilot Study offers a unique opportunity to have the results of DFPM-RED’s research-based work inform and inspire other researchers across the country.

We Inspire Smart Eating (WISE) was developed by a DFPM-RED team led by RED faculty members Taren Swindle, Ph.D. and RED Director Leanne Whiteside-Mansell Ph.D. Development from 2011 – 2016 was funded by a USDA grant and WISE was implemented statewide in Arkansas beginning in 2016. WISE was licensed for commercial distribution in other states in 2017.

WISE has been implemented in various states throughout the U.S. and the newly published study examines WISE implementation over three years in Ohio and Virginia.

Link to article: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/15/8935