Research & Practice
Nutrition Education Project Development and Evaluation in Rural Vietnam
“The goal of the HealthBridge Foundation of Canada is to “improve health and reduce health inequities through research, policy, and action.” The organization does this throughout the world through four focus areas: tobacco control and non-communicable disease prevention; improving the livability of cities; sexual, reproductive, maternal and child health and rights (SRHR); and health, nutrition, and food security. HealthBridge has worked in Vietnam to assess and monitor population health, especially in rural communities, where there is a lack of funding, infrastructure, and resources to uphold health. And while the Vietnamese government recognizes the importance of nutrition and certain activities to reduce malnutrition, it lacks a governing body to specifically oversee or manage funding for those activities. HealthBridge has stepped in to conduct extensive research and build relationships with local partners to understand and diagnose health hazards and their root causes, and helped protect village markets threatened with closure in favor of large grocery stores.
This practicum involved creating an evaluation tool to measure the success of some of HealthBridge’s previously completed nutrition education and food demonstration sessions in Vietnam. This tool will be used by the organization to conduct interviews of session attendees and collect other data, and the resulting information used to support the agency’s next round of nutrition education and food demonstration sessions currently in development. The student was also tasked with drafting a logic model and letter of interest (LOI) for use in future organization funding proposals. Post-practicum, the student will continue working with the agency to finalize the LOI, which will be incorporated into a grant proposal by the agency’s Vietnam team.
Materials Available
Project Type(s): MPH Practicum
Author(s): Lauren Perkins
Program(s): Master of Public Health
Year: 2024
Adviser(s):