Virginia Via Research Day Book 2026

Medical Student Research Public Health

20 Nutrition and Health Priorities Among Residents of Transitional Housing: New Perspectives from DO Students: Preliminary Research

Brittany Blitstein, Varun Patel, Connor Blevins, Neal Fleming, Richard Mueller, Tej Patel, Arundhati Rajpurohit, Jessica Nicholson, Dr. Bernard Kadio Corresponding author: tkindred@vcom.edu

VCOM-Virginia, Blacksburg, Virginia

Food insecurity and housing instability are public health concerns that directly impact dietary choices and overall health outcomes. Additionally, individuals with lower socioeconomic status face greater barriers to accessing nutritious food, which contribute to greater health consequences.¹ Sustaining long term changes can be due to a lack of medical presence within these communities. Only 14% of physicians feel adequately prepared and comfortable with discussing nutrition with their patients.² Lack of confidence in conversations with patients about nutritional and lifestyle decisions can further mistrust in physicians. Physician discomfort in these situations may be attributable to inadequate nutritional education within the medical school curriculum, thus leading to a lack of medical student engagement within their communities. 75% of United States medical schools do not have required clinical nutrition.² Methods: A mixed methods study was implemented from January 2025 until September 2025. Monthly Community Nourishment events were held at Linden Green Community: a transitional housing infrastructure in Christiansburg, VA. A preliminary survey was conducted during July 2025 at the monthly event. The survey "Utilizing the Food Choice Questionnaire to Explain Variation in Dietary

Intake" was adapted and given to the residents of the community.⁴ Inclusion criteria for participants included members of the community, adults above the age of 18, and attendees of the monthly events. Exclusion criteria included children. Questionnaire data was organized into eight categories to examine the importance of each category to the residents of transitional housing. Means and standard deviations were calculated for each category. Statistical analysis was conducted using paired-samples t-tests to compare each group with one another, though sample size restrictions limited its significance. The statistical analysis was conducted using Microsoft Excel. Qualitative data reflection was performed by the group members in September 2025 to evaluate the changed attitudes of medical students after connecting with the community at Linden Green. Participants compiled words to thematically reflect their learned experiences. Conclusion and Future Direction Our preliminary research indicates potential research in the health and nutrition of residents of transitional housing could identify some of the barriers this population faces in food security and healthy food choices. We also assessed our own pre-conceived notions about this community and how they evolved over our time spent at Linden Green.

The next step in this research is to expand the study population for the survey to possibility validate the trends from our preliminary data. Once confirmed, these insights can be used to develop targeted strategies addressing the specific nutrition and health priorities of residents in transitional housing. Acknowledgements and Resources: We would like to thank Dr. Wendy Welch, MPH, PhD with SVGME Consortium and Morgan Boone with Linden Green for their continued support. We would also like to thank Dr. Bernard Kadio, MD, PhD, MPH and Jess Nicholson, MAT. Parekh T, Xue H, Cheskin LJ, Cuellar AE. Food insecurity and housing instability as determinants of cardiovascular health outcomes: A systematic review. Nutr Metab Cardiovasc Dis. 2022;32(7):1590- 1608. Krishnan S, Sytsma T, Wischmeyer PE. Addressing the Urgent Need for Clinical Nutrition Education in PostGraduate Medical Training: New Programs and Credentialing. Adv Nutr. 2024;15(11):100321. doi:10.1016/j.advnut.2024.100321 Figure 1 from NCAHD Healthcare Workforce Research Pollard TM, Steptoe A, Wardle J. Motives underlying healthy eating: using the Food Choice Questionnaire to explain variation in dietary intake. J Biosoc Sci. 1998 Apr;30(2):165-79. doi: 10.1017/s0021932098001655. PMID: 9746823. IRB reference #2025-059. Project pending approval

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34 Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM)