of vegetables and fruits on each side that people can pay for. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Wenzel)
Through a new food delivery program, ASU nursing students will soon provide free screenings to community members that may be at a health risk because of poor access to fresh produce.
Fresh Express is a program managed by Discovery Triangle Development Corporation that will provide fresh fruits and vegetables to areas around downtown Phoenix that do not have easy access to groceries. Through a partnership with Valley Metro, a bus will bring produce to the “food deserts” — areas that have many low-income residents and low availabilities of affordable, healthy groceries.
First Transit will provide the driver and the staff will be from UMOM New Day Centers, Discovery Triangle analyst Allie Anderson said.
ASU nursing undergraduate students on clinical rotations will provide the free health screenings starting March 25, Anderson said.
“Our goal is to increase the access and affordability of fresh produce and empower these residents to make healthier choices,” Anderson said. “ASU Nursing is an integral part of (Fresh Express) providing health screenings. If they’re eating better, hopefully they’re healthier and ASU will be providing free screenings to make sure everyone’s healthy.”
ASU College of Nursing and Health Innovation Dean Teri Pipe said the health screenings will include blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory measurements. Pipe said the screenings will expand to other areas in the future.
“Part of it is investigating and exploring with the community what the community wants and needs in terms of their health care,” she said.
Pipe said she hopes the Fresh Express program will eventually include students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice program and provide more resources for community members with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes.
Pipe proposed the idea of the health screenings after learning of Fresh Express at a Phoenix business and education leaders’ meeting.
The bus will make stops at schools and community centers, which Pipe said will hopefully engage children and make them aware of health and nutrition earlier. She said it’s easier to change health behavior when a person is young compared to when they are older. She also said the bus would help expose children to potential careers in health care.
“It’s a long range community engagement effort,” Pipe said. “(Part of it is) helping those elementary students see that part of their future might include coming to ASU.”
Patricia Reeder, a community clinical instructor at the College of Nursing and Health Innovation, said part of the goal of the Fresh Express program is to educate children’s parents about nutrition as well.
“I have students who go into the schools and talk about nutrition to the students, but we often don’t get to talk to the parents,” Reeder said.
Reeder said undergraduate nursing students will become better educated about the community around them as they interact with customers.
“They learn about the community as a whole and the vulnerable population within the community and what their needs and desires are,” Reeder said. “It’s about more than the education, it’s about learning about who the people are.”
Contact the reporter at pkunthar@asu.edu
