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3 Easy Steps to Getting a HCI Student Grant

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Does your UCLA student organization share the same goals as the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative (HCI) – to make UCLA the healthiest campus in America?

If so, keep reading as you do not want to miss out on this opportunity. HCI strives to foster health and wellness at UCLA through a variety of activities, and one way is by offering financial support to undergraduate and graduate student organizations that share in the HCI mission and goals. UCLA is home to over a thousand student groups working on countless projects that focus on issues ranging from diabetes prevention, to therapeutic knitting, to social engagement. What do all of these groups have in common? They need funds to operate. HCI is here to help with this need through the HCI Student Group Funding Program and 3-part workshop series. That’s right, applying for grant money is as easy as 1, 2, 3, and HCI is there to help you along the way.

Step 1: Grant Writing

Before applications are due in Fall quarter, HCI hosts a Grant Writing Workshop to inform prospective students about the funding opportunity and how the application process works. In the Grant Writing phase, applicants will be introduced to the core tenets of the HCI mission. HCI believes a healthy campus must foster a high level of wellness, encourage personal responsibility, respect diversity, strive to reduce inequities in health, and be integrative. HCI organizes its own efforts through the 7 HCI pods. The pods focus on different aspects of health and wellbeing, including BEWell, MindWell, MoveWell, EngageWell, BreatheWell, EatWell, and ResearchWell. Through the workshop, applicants will learn how to develop an HCI grant proposal and make the case for using HCI funds to achieve shared goals. Maybe you would like to host a conference featuring experts who can speak to eating on a budget? Or maybe you would like to implement activity breaks in the residence halls? Or maybe you want to create opportunities for graduate students to coalesce and support their mental and emotional wellbeing? Grants help support all of these things! The Grant Writing workshop will help you connect your organizational goals with the HCI mission at UCLA.

Step 2: Evaluation

In addition to funding a student program, event, or activity, HCI will assist student organizations with evaluating the impact of their work among UCLA students. As part of the grant writing process, student organizations must propose a method to evaluate their work. You may distribute a satisfaction survey to participants in your cooking class or you might track participation and calories burned in a running club. The HCI Evaluation Workshop hosted at the start of Winter quarter will provide instruction on a range of methods your organization can use to evaluate your efforts and build on your success.

Step 3: Creating a Poster

This step is the most exciting out of the three! Every year HCI hosts a huge celebration toward the end of Spring quarter to acknowledge and share the collective efforts to address health and wellbeing throughout the year. As a recipient of HCI funding, student organizations will be invited to showcase their work to all in attendance and build connections with other students, faculty, and staff who share their passions. Worried your poster skills aren’t crafty enough? Don’t worry, HCI connects you with a UCLA librarian and members of the Research Well pod who will help you make a professional and engaging poster. They will even pay to have it printed for you to use at the HCI Celebration and at your own future events.

That’s it — three easy steps to getting your student group some extra funds to use throughout the year. Whose student group needs money? Yours does. What is HCI’s grant program for? Getting student groups working on health and wellness the money they need. When do you apply? Applications are due by late October of Fall quarter. Where do you find more information? HCI’s website. Why apply for a grant? It could really benefit your organization.

 

Aubrey Freitas is an undergraduate student at UCLA double majoring in English Literature and Psychology with a minor in Italian. She is a blogger for the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative in the Mind Well section, which focuses on the importance of mindfulness and mental health. Aubrey is the founder of the organization Warm Hearts to Warm Hands, which teaches the skill of knitting to people of the community in return for their donation of an article of clothing they create with the skill, to be given to local homeless shelters.

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The De Neve Flex Bar: Shifting from Animal-based to Plant-based Protein

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The De Neve Flex Bar is at the forefront of the UCLA Dining Services’ new initiative of moving from animal to plant-based proteins. The triangle-shaped Flex Bar at De Neve Dining commons opened at the beginning of UCLA’s academic winter quarter in 2017 and its popularity has continuously grown. Peter Angelis, Assistant Vice Chancellor of UCLA Housing & Hospitality Center, came up with this idea about a year ago and with the help of Al Ferrone, Senior Director of UCLA Food and Beverage, and the rest of the Healthy Campus Initiative Team, the project has been implemented and has already seen much success. All of the dishes, over 12 different salads in total, have plant-based proteins as the main ingredient with animal-based proteins as the “condiment.”

The De Neve Flex Bar. Photo by Phillip Cox.

De Neve dining commons has long been thought of as the “classic dining hall,” serving American foods such as hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza every day of the week. The goal of the Flex Bar as Dr. Cowgill, of the Department of Health Policy and Management, says is to “ultimately make the healthy option the default option.” Having tried the new Flex Bar at De Neve a few weeks ago, I found all the different salads delicious and refreshing, and was left wanting more! Just reading the names peaked my interest: “Charred Cruciferous Salad with Cotija & Almonds,” or “Ecuadorian Chicken & Vegetable Pasta Salad,” or “Kale, Spicy Lentil, Quinoa, Date & Almond Salad.” I found myself getting full from many of these different salads and not having to go for that extra slice of pizza or that unneeded hamburger.

Some of the salads offered at the De Neve Flex Bar. Photo by Philip Cox.

It is these salads that I would normally find myself ordering at a nice restaurant out in Los Angeles, but to think that I could just get it on campus in a dining hall really attests to why UCLA has some of the best college dining hall foods in the United States.

 

UCLA Dining is not just simply providing food for hungry students, they are constantly looking for ways to implement healthier foods that students actually like. For example, Mr. Ferrone mentioned how a significant portion of the high salt and high sodium content in De Neve was removed without sacrificing taste or interest from the student’s perspective. However, like any scientific experiment, we need evidence to prove whether these types of changes in UCLA Dining are having an impact. Through UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative’s Research Well Pod, Dr. May Wang of the Department of Community Health Sciences, Dr. Burt Cowgill, and many graduate students are the hidden data detectives of this initiative, helping us discover whether the Flex Bar is having an impact. With their help, we will soon be able to tell if this idea is generally changing student’s protein consumption from animal-based to plant-based foods in De Neve.

Categorizing De Neve’s dining menu into meat and plant based-proteins was a necessary first step to allow them to analyze changing consumption. An initial survey of almost 500 students, using a food questionnaire designed by public health graduate students, was then issued to gather information on a variety of different student consumption patterns, including how students were consuming protein and specifically how much came from animals versus plants. Dr. Wang and a few graduate students were also able to recruit excited undergraduate students to assist with gathering additional data using a 3-day food diary to validate the food questionnaire. This aspect of the study adds rigor to the research methods used to gain insights into protein consumption patterns among students.

After a few months of the Flex Bar being implemented, the goal is to collect a follow up survey that will allow them to compare their baseline survey and food study data. The hope from this initiative is to see an increase in the acceptability factor (i.e. popularity) and ‘take rate’ of Flex Bar salads. Looking at the purchasing/consumption in 2016 and comparing it to 2017 patterns, the expectation is to see a shift in the purchasing patterns from animal-based to more plant-based proteins like legumes, quinoa, and broccoli for example. Who knows, maybe this type of salad bar will eventually be implemented in the other dining halls!

Mr. Ferrone mentions that the idea of a triangular salad bar is important because “it never ends” and ideally “students will fill their plates and won’t need to get other food.” (I can personally confirm this). It is this never ending salad bar that reminds me of our continual and everlasting pursuit towards healthier eating. There is always something that we can do to make our lifestyles healthier and I think the first step that we all can take is to go try the new Flex Bar at De Neve dining hall.

Phillip Cox is a 4th year Bioengineering major and blogger for the Eat Well Pod within the Healthy Campus Initiative.

 

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ResearchWell seeks to increase HPV vaccines in college

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What is the ResearchWell Pod?

Established in the spring of 2015, the mission of the ResearchWell pod is to support the research and evaluation needs of the Healthy Campus Initiative (HCI), HCI pods, and HCI-funded student projects. Towards this end, the ResearchWell Pod engages in various activities such as identifying campus-wide data sets that inform HCI policies and programs, exploring internal and external partnerships to conduct research, and guiding HCI pods and student groups on the process evaluation of their events/programs. Aligned with HCI’s vision of making UCLA the healthiest college campus in the nation, the ResearchWell Pod actively conducts research on issues related to the health and well-being of college students, including HPV.

What is HPV?

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a sexually transmitted virus that can cause various cancers and diseases in both males and females. The virus is transmitted through intercourse and other forms of genital contact, but often displays no signs or symptoms. However, it can have severe consequences for men and women, including genital warts and anal cancer in both men and women, as well as cervical, vulvar, and vaginal cancers in women, and penile cancer in men. Nearly 1 in 4 people in the United States are infected with HPV and there are approximately 14 million new HPV infections each year. Furthermore, in 2010 the economic burden of preventing and treating HPV-related diseases was estimated at an annual direct medical cost of $8 billion.

The HPV Vaccine

While HPV might sound scary, the risk of acquiring HPV is greatly reduced by receipt of the HPV vaccine, which was first introduced in 2006. Extensive clinical trials provide incontrovertible evidence that the vaccine “provides close to 100% protection against cervical precancers and genital warts.” Since the vaccine’s introduction in 2006, the United States has seen a 64% reduction in HPV infections in teen girls.

The CDC recommends that all children receive the vaccine between the ages of 11-12, before they engage in any kind of sexual activity and could potentially be exposed to the virus. However, there are many barriers to the HPV immunization of adolescents, including the following:

  • Failure of doctors to recommend the vaccine
  • Parents/doctors believing that boys do not need to receive the vaccine (which is false!)
  • Parents forgetting that children need multiple doses of the vaccine
  • Parental concerns about the vaccine’s effect on their children’s sexual behavior
  • Other common misconceptions, including that only those with multiple partners become infected (false!), those who aren’t sexually active don’t need the vaccine (false!), or that the vaccine can make pre-existing HPV infections worse (false!)

If an individual did not receive the HPV vaccine as an adolescent, it is not too late to still become vaccinated! The CDC recommends the vaccine up until the age of 26 for young women and until the age of 21 for young men that did not receive it as a child.

Getting Vaccinated in College

For those that were not vaccinated during adolescence, college is a great opportunity to receive the HPV vaccine. Because of college students’ increased likelihood for sexual activity and ability to make their own medical decisions, college is the ideal time and place to promote the vaccine. Furthermore, many students have health insurance under university-mandated programs or through their parents and/or have access to nearby university clinics where they can get the vaccine. Despite these factors, vaccination rates remain low among young adults. In 2014, only 44.8% of female 19-21 year olds and 13.3% of male 19-21 year olds had been vaccinated against HPV.

ResearchWell’s HPV Study

To combat the low rates of vaccination amongst college students, the UCLA Center for Cancer Prevention and Control Research in partnership with the Research Well pod of the Healthy Campus Initiative is conducting a study to investigate current HPV-related activities on campus and promising and feasible strategies to increase access to and use of HPV vaccination services among UCLA students. The study aims to learn what undergraduate students know about HPV and the HPV vaccine, the intention to vaccinate and vaccination rates amongst students of various genders and racial/ethnic backgrounds, and what strategies are recommended by Ashe Center providers and student organizations to inform students about the benefits of the HPV vaccine.

The study is being conducted by a team including Roshan Bastani, PhD; Beth Glenn, PhD; Burt Cowgill, PhD, and Catherine Crespi, PhD. Furthermore, the study will be conducted in collaboration with the Healthy Campus Initiative, the UCLA Arthur Ashe Student Health and Wellness Center, the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), and the Student Wellness Commission (SWC).

To accomplish the aims of the study, the researchers will take a mixed-methods approach, utilizing undergraduate focus groups, key informant interviews with health care providers, a review of Ashe Center data, and an online survey administered to undergraduate students. The study is incredibly innovative in its mixed-methods approach, but also in its location at UCLA and in its partnership with other key stakeholder groups. “Conducting this study at a large, public university offers a unique opportunity to assess HPV knowledge and vaccine coverage among a diverse group of young adults,” while the “partnership with key stakeholder groups from the outset will provide a strong foundation for future HPV vaccine promotion efforts”.

If you would like to learn more about the ResearchWell Pod and/or its HPV Study, please contact Dr. Burt Cowgill at bcowgill@ucla.edu.

EatWell Campus Programs

Answers to your Food Week questions on food, health, and climate

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In fall, the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative hosted a Food Day panel discussion with three experts to help us better understand the environmental footprint of our food—our “foodprint.” We followed up with the panelists to answer some outstanding questions from our audience.

Meet the experts:

Dr. Jennifer (Jenny) Jay, PhD – Professor, UCLA Institute of Environment and Sustainability

Dr. Dana Hunnes, PhD, MPH, RD – Senior Dietitian, UCLA Medical Center and Assistant Adjunct Professor, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Elliot Mermel – CEO and Cofounder, Coalo Valley (Cricket) Farm

1. Are there alternative options (better than beef) that are meat-based?

Beef and lamb are the most resource-intensive meats, with production resulting in 26 and 23 kg CO2-eq per kg, respectively. This includes methane emissions that occur during ruminant respiration along with the carbon footprint of the feed and maintenance of the animals. In contrast, pork and poultry produce 7 and 5 kg CO2-eq per kg, respectively. Eggs and nuts generate 4 and 2 kg CO2-eq per kg. Beans produce just 0.8 kg CO2-eq per kg. – Jenny

(In other words, poultry and pork have a smaller carbon footprint than beef and lamb; but eggs, nuts, and beans are best!)

2. People say soy is bad for you. Should we limit the amount of soy protein we eat?

Soy is not bad for you at all! Asian countries eat a ton of soy and they are some of the healthiest long-lived people! I’m more worried about the naturally-occurring hormones in dairy products than I am in soy. – Dana

3. What is the “role” of packaged/processed food in this conversation (e.g. vegetable chips, etc.) or is the message that we need to emphasize cooking and preparing meals from scratch?

Eating as close to nature as possible is best. Cooking and preparing meals from scratch is always healthier than restaurant or packaged foods. However, looking for packaged/processed foods with as few ingredients as possible, recognizable ingredient names, and that are also low in sugar and salt can also have a place in the diet. For instance, frozen fruits and vegetables with no added ingredients can be just as nutritious as fresh. – Dana

4. What are the best nutrient rich grains and foods to incorporate into a plant-based diet? I know a few: quinoa, amaranth, lentils, mung beans.

Farro, bulgur or barley, split peas, whole-grain/brown rice, black beans—almost any type of bean really! Wheat berries, spelt, etc. – Dana

5. I’ve heard feeding seaweed to cows reduces methane production. Is this technique legit?

Livestock are responsible for a huge fraction, 44%, of anthropogenic methane, a greenhouse gas with much more warming potential than carbon dioxide. There is some recent work showing that in a laboratory simulation of a cow’s digestive system, additions of relatively small amounts of seaweed (equivalent to 2% of the cattle feed) did result in greater than a 70% decrease in methane production. Some work with live sheep also has shown significant decreases.

The technology is new, so long term impacts on productivity and animal health have not yet been evaluated. Also, this technology would only apply to the feedlot segment of the animal’s life. Typically, cattle spend most of their lives on pasture and then move to a feedlot for “finishing.”

It is important to note that due to methane production throughout the lifespan (pasture and feedlot), the carbon footprint of ruminants is much, much higher than that of other protein sources (see my response to question 1). Even with the substantial reduction of methane from ruminant respiration during the feedlot period, there are still more climate friendly ways to gain protein. – Jenny

6. What should we do with our food waste if we don’t have access to compost bins?

Given the important role that reducing food waste can play in lessening our “foodprint,” we can all strive to get better at generating less waste. For example, we can take plastic containers with us to restaurants, which encourages us to pack up and eat later what we might have thrown away. This saves the disposable take out containers as well!  

Careful meal planning does take time, but it provides huge benefits in the way of reducing waste, increasing our consumption of healthy foods (and decreasing our reliance on those typically less-healthy last minute options), and saving money.  

Try to spend some weekend time deciding what you’ll eat during the week. You might really like the extra time this gives you to buy and prep the foods you’ll be eating. If you do tend to change plans a lot, you’ll need to be careful with buying perishables. Remember you can always freeze your veggies and leftovers.

Finally, it’s great to learn how to make a simple soup that can help you use up stray veggies, beans, and pasta in your fridge. This can be as simple as boiling up veggies in broth, and running it through your blender. Cashews and white potatoes will add a creamy texture.  Similarly, smoothies will help reduce fruit and greens waste—you can freeze fruits and greens ahead, and then spin them up for a quick and healthy breakfast. – Jenny

7. Is eating insects really a promising alternative to conventional meats?

Traditional diets across Asia, Africa, and Latin America incorporate insects as important sources of protein—often as delicious delicacies! While the act of eating insects is not yet a widely appreciated source of sustainable protein in the western world, with dwindling land, water, and resources and trending environmental-consciousness, insect consumption is more than just a fad; it’s the food of the future.  

Tens of millions of dollars has been injected into the edible insect industry across North America and Europe over the past few years and hopefully this belief in sustainable protein production will trickle down to the plates of consumers. – Elliot

8. How many crickets would you have to eat to make the protein gained in beef? Does this offset environmental benefits?

Comparing raw crickets and raw beef, per 100g, crickets have 8-25g of protein while beef has 19-26g of protein. In general, insects require six times less feedthan cattle to produce the same amount of protein and emit less greenhouse gasses.

From personal experience and basic research, I say that there are many environmental benefits (less land use, water and feed use, greenhouse gas emissions) of raising crickets compared to traditional techniques of beef production.  – Elliot

9. Can you talk about DIY, home-based insect production? Are you thinking about offering classes in mealworm husbandry?

One of the toughest parts of insect farming is dialing in the variables specific to the space you are raising them in. Since this is a natural aspect of all DIY projects, I encourage people to take the leap and go through the trial and error period. There are many open-source forums online that can help solve problems.

We are willing to offer basic help to anyone in need of insect raising advice but keep in mind that the majority of hindrances in an individual’s farming will be lack of insect-specific equipment, a market that is still in its larval stages.  – Elliot

“Sustainable diets are those diets with low environmental impacts which contribute to food and nutrition security and to healthy life for present and future generations. Sustainable diets are protective and respectful of biodiversity and ecosystems, culturally accepted, accessible, economically fair and affordable; nutritional adequate, safe and healthy; while optimizing natural and human resources.” – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Written by Hannah Malan, Graduate Student Researcher, EatWell

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Celebrating the Healthy Campus Initiative: Looking back and looking forward

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UCLA is excitingly marking the fifth year of the presence of the Healthy Campus Initiative (HCI) on its campus. The initiative was officially launched by Chancellor Gene Block in January 2013, thanks to the vision, funding, support, and participation of philanthropists Jane and Terry Semel. In honor of this milestone, let’s take a look back at HCI’s beginnings and biggest accomplishments, as well as a look forward towards what’s on the horizon for HCI.

HCI began with the Semels’ vision to create a culture of living well on the UCLA campus — for students, staff, faculty, and the community. The goal was to cultivate a campus-wide wellness movement that would make UCLA the healthiest university campus in America, and to do it well in our own backyard such that others would be inspired to join the movement. To achieve this, the Semels worked with other key figures, including Chancellor Gene Block and Michael Goldstein, former assistant vice provost, to blend health promotion with the True Bruin values, creating a unique structure that has since served as the inspiration for other health movements, such as the UC Global Food Initiative and Michelle Obama’s Partnership for a Healthier America.

Dr. Wendy Slusser, assistant vice provost of HCI, emphasizes that HCI achieves a collective impact because it is a “coordinating structure emanating from the chancellor’s office that helps to catalyze and leverage the incredible wealth of resources and knowledge on [UCLA’s] campus.” HCI brings together stakeholders promoting physical, emotional, and social health and wellbeing, and connects them with academic departments researching and teaching related subjects such as environment, food, and life skills, as well as administrative units across campus including Dining Services, Transportation, and Recreation.

By bringing all these key players together, HCI helps to make the healthy choice the easiest choice for student, staff, and faculty. Furthermore, with its six distinct pods — MoveWell, MindWell, BEWell, EatWell, BreatheWell, and ResearchWell — HCI’s interdisciplinary approach to health and wellbeing allows it to continuously find new and innovative ways to promote health on campus.

Over the past four years, the initiative has seen many successes. From more bike lanes to an undergraduate food studies minor, a “Mindful Music” series to meditation drop-ins to a tobacco-free campus, HCI has improved UCLA’s campus in numerous ways. Dr. Slusser believes that part of HCI’s success comes from its location within the chancellor’s office. Because the chancellor oversees everyone at UCLA, even the health system, it is clear that HCI cares about everyone’s physical, emotional, and social health on campus. Furthermore, in acting as a coordinating structure, HCI embraces health initiatives already in the works on campus and connects them to the resources they need to succeed, all while giving credit where credit is due.

Another key component to making impactful change on campus was pairing faculty pod leaders with key members of UCLA staff. For example, the MoveWell pod is led by both Professor Angelia Leung and the head of UCLA Recreation Wendy Windsor, which enables the pod to take research and innovation from UCLA students, staff, and faculty and directly implement it on campus through UCLA Recreation. Similarly, the BEWell pod is led by both Professor Richard Jackson and Renee Fortier, executive director of UCLA Events and Transportation. The medicinal garden planted south of the Ronald Reagan Hospital as part of HCI is a visible example of an idea translated into reality through the interdisciplinary collaboration of the then CEO of the hospital David Feinberg, Professor Peter Whybrow, Jane Semel, and the volunteerism of the UCLA community.

When asked about what’s up next for the HCI, Jane Semel and Dr. Slusser remarked that it’s hard to predict future projects due to the collaborative and innovative nature of the Initiative. However, two big projects on the horizon include efforts to pull together all the mental health resources on campus, led by Dr. Bob Bilder, the faculty leader for the HCI BEWell pod and Professor in the Semel Institute, and the construction of a living amphitheater in the Sunset Recreation Center. Jane Semel conceived the idea of the amphitheater several years ago and brought in the support from the Chancellor, Alice Bamford and Anne Eysenring, of One Gun Ranch, Dean Teri Schwartz of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, and Mick DeLuca, Assistant Vice Chancellor. Semel remarked that the upcoming living amphitheater is one of the projects she is the most proud of, as it will provide healthy food, exercise, stress-reduction, and the opportunity for community building to the UCLA community. The living amphitheater is expected to be finished in the spring and will be the location for the annual celebration of the Healthy Campus Initiative on May 4 called Dream Revolution where TFT students will perform a Midsummer’s Night Dream. As Jane Semel says: “It is a dream come true!”

What do you think have been some of the HCI’s biggest accomplishments or how has it allowed you to lead a healthier life on campus? Comment below or share your thoughts with us on Facebook!

Danielle de Bruin is a fourth-year undergraduate student at UCLA majoring in Sociology with a double minor in Italian and Global Health. She is the blog coordinator for the UCLA Healthy Campus Initiative and the director of UCLA’s Body Image Task Force, which is a committee within the Student Wellness Commission. With the Body Image Task Force, Danielle organizes events, workshops, and campaigns to promote healthy body image, self-confidence, and mental health on campus. She is also published in the journal PLOS Medicine and the Huffington Post.