Community food insecurity experts may improve medical student attitudes and self-efficacy in caring for older adults

Food insecurity, a structural and social determinant of health (SSDOH), is a common nutritional problem for older adults that requires an interprofessional and community-based approach. Community-service learning models have been shown to improve teaching of SSDOHs, but few appear to incorporate community leaders as teachers in the classroom setting or to highlight their role on interprofessional teams. When our institution identified a preclinical curricular need for content in nutrition and interprofessional approaches to care, it created an opportunity to use geriatrics as a teaching framework for both topics.

To address these curricular needs within a geriatrics framework, a medical student spearheaded a classroom-based, community-service learning session utilizing community leaders with food insecurity expertise. The aim of this session was to improve medical student attitudes toward and self-efficacy in caring for older adults with food insecurity.