Free Continuing Professional Education Webinar for Nurses and Dietitians

Translating Epidemiology into Sound Public Health Advice

Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2009

OVERVIEW:

Are your patients confused by mixed media messages about nutrition and health? Do you struggle with what to say when asked about findings from nutritional epidemiological studies that patients hear about in the national media or on the web? If so consider attending this thought-provoking presentation by one of the country's leading physician-epidemiologists. Dr. Douglas Weed will discuss key differences between the scientific literature and how the media communicates nutritional epidemiological data to the lay public. Dr. Weed will also explore effective communication techniques for use with your patients regarding the risks/benefits of "weak" associations, including what can and cannot be said about association, causation, and risk; and what recommendations (dietary, public health, policy) should and should not be made.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the conclusion of this lecture, attendees will be able to:

1. Define the following key terms used in the science of nutritional epidemiology: association, causation, risk, weight of evidence, confounding and bias, and provide brief descriptions of study designs including cohort studies, case-control studies, and surveys.
2. Describe what makes a “weak association” weak, as it relates to epidemiological research and what can and cannot be said about association, causation, and risk.
3. Cite the key differences between the way nutritional epidemiology studies are reported in the media and in scientific literature.

SPEAKER:

Dr. Douglas L. Weed is an independent scientific consultant. He is a physician-epidemiologist with 25 years of experience in epidemiological research and research training. Dr. Weed received his M.D. from the Ohio State University and his M.P.H. and Ph.D. degrees in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina. His research focuses on the methods of general causation, cancer causation, systematic reviews, and weight-ofevidence methods. In addition, he has written extensively on the ethics of epidemiology and public health. He holds academic appointments at the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health and at the Georgetown University Kennedy Institute of Ethics. He co-chaired the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Daubert decision and was a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Judicial Center (Washington, DC). He is the past-chair of the American College of Epidemiology's Ethics and Standards of Practice Committee.

MODERATOR:

Jane Nelson Worel, MSN, APRN-BC, APNP is President of the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association (PCNA) and the Coordinator of the Cardiovascular Disease in Women Program at Meriter Hospital, in Madison, Wisconsin. She is a Fellow of the American Association of Cardiovascular Rehabilitation, a member of the American Heart Association and serves on the National Physical Activity and Metabolism Council's Obesity Committee.