Adelita Cantu, Ph.D., M.S., RN., (left) an assistant professor in the School of Nursing, mentored medical student Jillian Rushing this summer in a research study examining the eating habits of senior citizens. The interprofessional research collaboration is the first study conducted through MESA, a pilot study encourgaging interprofessional research.
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By Rosanne Fohn

Why are older Mexican-American seniors not eating as healthily as they should?

That is the research question being explored by Adelita Cantu, Ph.D., M.S., RN., an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.

She is studying this question at the invitation of Jill Oettinger, RN, executive director of Good Samaritan Community Services on San Antonio’s West Side. The senior citizens who go to Good Samaritan have heard a number of presentations about healthy eating, but have not necessarily changed their ways of eating as suggested.

What’s more, Dr. Cantu said that a neighborhood assessment shows that more than half of the residents have an unhealthy body weight, one-third are obese and 14 percent have type 2 diabetes. This combination of factors increases the risk for dementia to twice the national average, and the death rate from diabetes is second-highest in the nation.

Barriers to good health
At Oettinger’s request, Dr. Cantu is working with the seniors to discover the barriers to their eating more healthily, and with their input, will design a nutrition program that better addresses their cultural, physical, environmental and emotional barriers to better health.

“We have found that many of the ladies live alone and are isolated and depressed. Some don’t have transportation to go to the store, and some of the foods being promoted as nutritious are not familiar to them,” Dr. Cantu explained.

Working with her for six weeks this summer was Jillian Rushing, a medical student who wants to learn more about the field research.

While it may seem unusual for a medical student to collaborate with a nursing professor, the summer research project is part of a larger, institutional study being conducted at the Health Science Center to encourage interprofessional research and to introduce students to the idea of becoming a career scientist.

Carrie Jo Braden, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, associate dean for research in the School of Nursing, is conducting the institutionwide, interprofessional study called “Mechanisms for Enhancing Scholarly Achievements” or MESA, which also includes students from UT Houston’s School of Public Health.

Encouraging interprofesional research
Carrie Jo Braden, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, associate dean for research in the School of Nursing, is conducting the study called “Mechanisms for Enhancing Scholarly Achievements” or MESA for short.

She will be recruiting new students into the program in August and September from the schools of nursing, medicine, dentistry and health professions, and from The University of Texas at Houston’s School of Public Health.

“Little is known about the factors that strongly influence U.S. students — especially those from minority groups — to become career scientists. Research shows that there is a very low percentage of diversity represented in the research ranks,” Dr. Braden said.

“This is important because minority groups are often at a disadvantage regarding their health due to poverty, genetic risk factors and access to care. As a result, they are frequently at higher risk for such health problems as obesity, diabetes, HIV/AIDS and cardiovascular problems. As the U.S. population grows, many more people from these diverse groups will not be represented among researchers unless we can discover and address the barriers to their entering research careers,” she explained.

How MESA works
The four-year, $1.4 million study involves recruiting 250 graduate students from all ethnic and cultural groups over four semesters. The students will be randomly assigned to two groups. One group will learn about research careers and the other will be in a comparison group. The study will evaluate the students’ attitudes towards entering research careers and which interventions are the most successful.

Both groups will receive tuition assistance to take 10 units of elective credit, plus small, periodic incentives for participation. However, students in the research group will take a specific track of electives including courses introducing them to the research environment, participation on interprofessional research teams led by faculty mentors and a scholar’s seminar. The teams will conduct research on health topics of importance to diverse populations, such as Dr. Cantu’s study, and will include community mentors whenever possible.

Collaboration with Medical School Summer Research Program
Rushing, the medical student, also received a small stipend through the Medical School Summer Research Program, which also encourages medical students to enter research.

“We hope to demystify what having a research career is like and to show what a positive experience it can be,” Dr. Braden explained. “Many students are attracted to health-related careers because they want to help others or give back to their community. I like to tell them about my experience as a clinical nurse and researcher,” she said. “I have probably helped hundreds of patients in my clinical career, but I have impacted the lives of thousands of people through my research.”

Senior citizens share their thoughts
For Rushing, the summer research program has been enlightening in many ways. As part of the senior center study with Dr. Cantu, she interviewed the senior citizens about their lives, food purchases, recipes and eating habits.

“It was very interesting,” Rushing said. “I learned that some of these women feel that the term ‘eating well’ is not necessarily related to good nutrition, but having enough to eat. Some of them grew up very poor and even now only eat one or two meals a day. They also grew up eating certain foods, like potatoes, beans and tortillas that might not be considered as healthy as other foods. Changing to other foods now is difficult to do. And many of them are lonely. Their husbands have died and it’s hard to fix food for just one person.”

Rushing also learned about the field of research. “Before, I perceived research as a rather formal and rigorous process to discover ‘mysterious’ things,” she said. “I now have a better idea. You hone in on a question, and the answer can be as simple or as complex as the people we serve. I think it lends itself well to a medical practice.”

How to join the MESA study
For more information about the MESA study, which is actively seeking students and mentors interested in conducting research on minority health issues, please contact Dr. Braden, associate dean for research, through the School of Nursing’s Office of Research and Scholarship at 210-567-5808.