Madelia Community Based Collaborative

Dr. Stacey Van Gelderen and Dr. Kelly Krumwiede

The Madelia Community Based Collaborative (MCBC) is a community initiative that was supported by the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society in 2012 with faculty and community interactions with Taylor Visiting Scholars. Initial faculty community research projects and educational projects were partially funded by the Institute. An entire community based collaboration has now developed. Partners in MCBC now include the following: the Madelia Community Hospital, the Madelia Chamber of Commerce, Watonwan County Health and Human Services, Tony Downs Foods, the Madelia Schools, nursing home and religious communities and Minnesota State University Mankato faculty and students.
A current focus of MCBC has been the Madelia Rethink Your Drink initiative. This initiative has goals and objectives that align with the health of communities and society.

Goal of MCBC Initiative:
To improve the health of the citizens of Madelia by working to increase access to healthy beverages and educate citizens about the health effects of consuming sugar sweetened beverages.
Communications Objective(s):

1. Increase public awareness of the MCBC Healthy Beverage Project
2. Increase public awareness and knowledge of the health effects of consuming sugar sweetened beverages

Key Values Messages:

• Community Led Effort:
  • Madelia Community-Based Collaborative (MCBC) is a community-based collaborative interested in the health of the citizens of Madelia
  • A recent community-assessment revealed that the top health concerns impacting Madelia families and residents are obesity, cancer and diabetes.
• Evidence of Sugar Sweetened Beverage Consumption on Health:
  • Evidence shows that sugary beverages have played a big role in the epidemic of obesity that has swept the nation and the state, and that by encouraging the consumption of healthy drinks, such as water, there can be a direct, positive impact on obesity
  • Comprehensive Approach to Healthy Beverages. This project will focus on providing education to the community about the effects of drinking sugar-sweetened beverages on their health. The project will also work with community partners to implement voluntarily efforts to encourage the drinking of healthier beverages

Collaboration: Madelia, ReThink Your Drink MCBC project has been funded for $15,000 from a State Health Improvement Grant (SHIP) grant. The liaison for State Health Improvement Grant is Lia Lambert graduate of the Health Science: Community Health Education program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. MCBC has accepted applications from 5 partners who are implementing initiatives to decrease sugary beverage intake. These partners include: Tony Downs Foods, Madelia Hospital, Luther Memorial Home, Madelia Public Schools, and Administration from Department of Human Services (DHS) in St. Paul. Plans are underway with Department of Human Services to capture photos and videos from aspects of the project to feature in a promotional video about how these programs can change communities (Appendix B).

Dissemination
Krumwiede, K. A., Van Gelderen, S. A., & Krumwiede, N. K. (2014). Academic-hospital partnership: Conducting a community health needs assessment as a service learning project. Public Health Nursing, doi: 10.1111/phn.12159