Benefits and Risks of Seafood Consumption: Outreach Education for Healthcare Providers and Practitioners

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: There is currently a wealth of scientific research revealing the benefits, risks, and sustainability issues related to fish and seafood consumption. Unfortunately, the conflicting nature of the data, along with interpretations by the popular press, has led to mixed messages on the incorporation of seafood into the diet. Due to the confusion surrounding fish and seafood consumption, future communications with consumers should be carefully constructed in order to convey an easy, understandable message that considers both the potential risks and benefits. Besides the potential risks, consumers and healthcare providers/practitioners should also be aware of the well-documented health benefits of seafood-rich diets. Reducing overall fish and seafood intake can prove harmful to health because of the resulting depletions in important dietary components, such as omega-3 fatty acids; however, consumers must also consider the safety of the product in terms of possible contaminants. This project will increase the ability of consumers to balance the important benefits and risks of seafood consumption by providing them with a consistent message and relevant information delivered through a variety of readily available materials. Additionally, the project team will work with intermediary groups, such as healthcare providers/practitioners, providing appropriate communication tools for reinforcement of the message that would improve its accuracy and effectiveness.

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APPROACH: Objective 1 will be achieved through a collaborative brainstorming effort to generate a uniform and easy-to-understand message based on recent recommendations by the NAS Institute of Medicine report. The importance of balancing health benefits and risks will be considered and addressed in the message. In order to ensure consistency, it is important to the team members that the message be uniform in nature and applicable to all potential consumer and intermediary groups Objective 2 will address the applied research component of the integrated grant program and it will be achieved through a needs assessment survey of healthcare providers/ practitioners. Prior to implementation of the survey, an expert panel will be formed to review the survey content. This expert panel will consist of the project key personnel, healthcare providers/practitioners, Land Grant Food Safety Experts and/or Sea Grant Seafood Specialists. Objective 3 will involve a rigorous process to develop a two stage communication program that is informed by the outcomes of the first two objectives. Stage one of the program will focus on education of healthcare providers/practitioners and stage two will focus on the ability of the providers/practitioners to educate their patients. An expert advisory panel consisting of professionals in the areas of food safety, human health, communication and design will be utilized. Once the brand design is finalized a website will be developed to host the materials and link to additional resources Objective 4 involves the project team to rolling out the communication and education program that involves targeted media and website placements, hosting on-line webinars (interactive web-based seminars), and developing a seminar to present at key events or functions already planned for and by the targeted healthcare providers/practitioners. Through each of the target distribution channels, the following key points will be presented: the purpose of the program, what is available, how to use the materials, where to access them, and how to find out more (website). To complete Objective 5 it is necessary that the seafood industry sector is also provided with appropriate materials to inform consumers of the risks and benefits of seafood consumption at the point-of-purchase (POP). Therefore information and materials based on the message developed earlier in the project will be prepared and implemented for use with commercial seafood sectors, specifically in retail, market, and restaurant settings. For Objective 6, a series of evaluation steps will be carried out concurrently to the project in order to ensure that effective message and communication tools are successfully developed. Following completion of the project, the team members will carry out an overall assessment of the impact that this communication program has had on the behavior, knowledge and attitudes of the target audiences.

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PROGRESS: 2007/09 TO 2008/08<BR>
OUTPUTS: This is a multi-discipline, multi-institutional grant to address the need to develop and implement an effective communication program that can be utilized by healthcare providers and practitioners to educate their patients on balancing the risks and benefits of seafood consumption. The first objective was to gather the different team members from the six universities and one non-profit determine if sufficient information is a uniform and coordinated message that addresses seafood consumption in terms of health benefits and risks. Two separate meetings were held that brought together project leaders. A one-day collaborative brainstorming session was held in Orlando, Fl with all project team members along with marketing and communications experts to discuss easy-to-understand messaging based on recent recommendations by the NAS Institute of Medicine report. While most of committee members agreed that benefits largely outweighed the risks with seafood consumption, there were differences in what the best approach would be for communication of these messages for the health profession. Another meeting over a two-day period was held in Astoria, OR to discuss potential communication tools that are happening in a rapidly changing environment. An Advisory Board for the project was established and includes Tom Billy, previous Director FDA Office of Seafood, Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Carol Lammi-Keefe, Professor and Division Head, School of Human Ecology, LSU Ag Center, Joyce Nettleton, Nutrition Expert, Editor of Fats of Life Newsletter, Dr. James McGregor, Visiting Professor of Clinical Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Dr. Linda Van Horn, Professor of Preventive Medicine Research Dietician, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The role of the Advisory Board will be to oversee project activity on an annual basis and give advice to goals and objectives as they are implemented. A second major activity over the past year was to implement a needs assessment on-line survey of healthcare providers. The survey was developed using a content validity methodology supported through literature and reviewed by a cross-sectional expert panel. The core management team for the survey consists of Lori Pivarnik (University of Rhode Island), Doris Hicks (University of Delaware), and Robert Gable (University of Connecticut), an evaluation expert. Prior to implementation of the survey, an expert panel including the Advisory Board, consisting of the project personnel, healthcare providers/practitioners, Land Grant Food Safety Experts and/or Sea Grant Seafood Specialists reviewed the survey content and made recommendations of survey length and content. The needs assessment survey was implemented in September and will run through December using an online service called Qualtrics (www.qualtrics.com). Before starting the survey we applied for and received IRB exemption. <BR>PARTICIPANTS: Dr. Michael Morrissey, Superintendent Food Innovation Center Professor, Food Science and Technology Oregon State University 1207 NW Naito Parkway, Suite 154 Portland, OR 97209 503 872-6656 work 503 338-8972 cell michael.morrissey@oregonstate.edu Doris T. Hicks Seafood Technology Specialist University of Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service 700 Pilottown Road Lewes, DE 19958 302-645-4297 Email: dhicks@udel.edu Carolyn Raab, PhD, RD Extension Family and Community Development Oregon State University 161 Milam Hall Corvallis, Oregon 97331-5106 Email: raabc@oregonstate.edu Jennifer Wilmes, MS RD 7981 Jones Branch Suite 700 McLean, VA 22102 Email: jwilmes@nfi.org Ken Gall New York Sea Grant 146 Suffolk Hall, SUNY Stony Brook, NY 11794-5002 Phone: 631-632-8730 Fax: 631-632-8216 Email: klg9@cornell.edu Lori F. Pivarnik, Ph.D. Coordinator, Food Safety Education/Research Program Nutrition and Food Sciences Department University of Rhode Island 530 Liberty Lane West Kingston, RI 02892 Tel: 401-874-2972 Fax: 401-874-2994 Email: pivarnik@uri.edu Pam Tom University of California Food Science and Technology / Sea Grant One Shields Avenue Davis, CA 95616 Ph: 530-752-3837 pdtom@ucdavis.edu Steve Otwell, PhD Dept. of Food Science and Human Nutrition University of Florida / Sea Grant 461 APL GAINESVILLE FL US 32611 Phone: 352-392-1991 otwell@ufl.edu Rosalee Rasmussen Graduate Research Assistant Oregon State University Seafood Lab 2001 Marine Dr., Rm 253 Astoria, OR 97103 Ph: 503-325-4531 Email: rsr 420@yahoo.com <BR>TARGET AUDIENCES: Needs assessment surveys were sent organizations representing health professionals including: physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, dieticians, nutritionists and other health professionals. <BR><BR>
IMPACT: 2007/09 TO 2008/08 <BR>
Most outcomes/impacts will occur during the next two years of the grant. This is when the results from the needs assessments survey will be used to develop appropriate educational pieces for our targeted audience, healthcare providers. All materials developed based on the needs assessment survey will be evaluated such that their ability to change knowledge, behaviors, and actions can be determined.