St. Jude Research Hospital is a nonprofit hospital founded in 1962 that treats children with catastrophic illnesses regardless of their ability to pay. Registered dieticians play an important role in ensuring patients receive adequate nutrition to support their treatment and recovery. While St. Jude has excellent nutrition programs, the dietician would try to source food from local organic farmers to increase its nutritional value and support the local economy. Education is also key to promoting healthy behaviors and lifestyles for patients and their families.

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Brooke Nichols
16 September 2015
Community Nutrition
Laura Rowell
St. Jude Research Hospital
After a long day of work, you flip the television on to relax and enjoy a peacefulnight at home. A
commercial for St. Jude fills your TV screen with severalbald young children, dancing around, smiling,
while battling life-threatening illnesses. You feel grateful that your child is healthy; however, how would
you feelat the next doctor’s appointment if you were told, “Your child has cancer”? Suddenly the world
becomes a frightening place. You are numb, devastated, and confused. While coping with all these
overwhelming powerful emotions, severalquestions run through your mind. Is your child going to
survive? Will your child suffer? Will your life be completely disrupted now? How will you afford all of
the medical expenses? You can rest assured knowing your child will be in good hands at St. Jude
Research Hospital, a hospital leading the world in advances and finding cures to catastrophic childhood
diseases.
St. Jude was founded in 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee and cares for children no matter what race,
class, or faith they happen to be. This research hospital focuses on helping families focus all their
attention on their child’s life. Treatment, housing, travel, and food are free because money is the last thing
a family wants to focus on while trying to take care of their child. St. Jude is leading the world in
research,advances,treatment,and finding cures to other life-threatening diseases. Due to all the research
conducted and treatments invented, the knowledge obtained has increased the survival rate of childhood
cancer from 20% in 1962 to more than 80% today. During the next decade,the goal is to increase the
survival rate to 90% (St. Jude, 2015).
The food service department at St. Jude cares a great dealabout nutrition and leading healthy
lifestyles. Fresh local produce and meat is available for any of the families and patients to purchase at the

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St. Jude Farmer’s Market. The farmer’s market is very beneficial because local food is packed full of
flavor and has more nutrients than most store bought food, due to the fact there is a shorter time span
between that food being harvested and reaching your plate. When food is shipped from far places, it sits
in distribution centers and loses a large amount of its nutritional value. Also, local food is safer to eat
because it is less likely to be contaminated. You can learn about that food item by asking what practices
were used to harvest that particular crop. Volunteers at St. Jude participate in planting fresh produce
weekly by planting vegetable beds. Although this garden is grown off of donations, it truly helps cut food
costs and also assures patients that this food is less exposed to hormones, pesticides, and herbicides.
Snack Bag is another nutritional program at St. Jude. Volunteers help create “ready to go/on the go”
packed lunches free for every single outpatient. Throughout St. Jude, healthy options are readily available
in vending machines and cafeterias. Cancer treatments are very hard on one’s body and so it becomes
very important that St. Jude offers healthy nutrient full foods that can help a patient feel better and speed
up recovery time.
St. Jude has over 3,600 employees (St. Jude, 2015). The steering and executive committee is at
the heart of St. Jude’s organizational structure. The external advisory committee, working groups,
standing committees, support facilities, research communities, and collaborating institutions all work
together to achieve one common goal: finding a cure. Danny Thomas (the founder of St. Jude) has said,
“No child should die in the dawn of life.” Registered dieticians are a very important part of St. Jude.
During cancer treatments,patients are very likely to lose weight, get infections easier, grow slower, feel
drained, and become irritable. These symptoms are a very common cause of a bad diet with poor
nutrition. A Registered Dietician has the responsibility of making sure that patients receive adequate
nutrition to help them grow, gain weight, lessen the likelihood of disease, and allow them to be
rambunctious and energized enough to play and enjoy their day as much as possible. However,meeting
these nutrition goals can be very tough to achieve. For example, tumors of the digestive tract makes it
hard to get quality nutrients, treatments cause nausea and vomiting. Radiation makes the digestive tract
sore and causes it to work improperly, the esophagus may become too dry and sore to chew and swallow,

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sense of taste changes,patients aren’t allowed to eat for a couple days before a major surgery, or a patient
may become depressed and develop poor eating habits. Due to all of these reasons,it is very crucial to
have a registered dietician at St. Jude to help individually assess each person’s nutrition needs and
develop personalized meal plans. With ongoing encouragement from a registered dietician, a patient will
more likely be willing to cooperate and eat a diet full of adequate nutrition.
St. Jude is a nonprofit hospital developed by Danny Thomas. This outstanding, smart, caring man
wanted to build a hospital that was more than just the “average” children’s hospital. He wanted an
institute where families could go when they felt as if they had nowhere else to turn. He wanted a place
where well educated doctors and scientists could come together and work on finding a cure for childhood
cancer and other life threatening diseases. Danny Thomas died in 1991, however, to this day St. Jude is
committed to continue researching and looking for cures until no child dies from cancer.
ALSAC is the organization that does most of the fundraising for St. Jude. Most of the funding
comes from individual contributors. The main goal of fundraising for St. Jude is to raise enough money to
be able to properly operate and maintain St. Jude without having families endure the burden of trying to
find a way to pay for their child’s medical needs. St. Jude focuses on saving every single kid in need,
regardless of financial problems. Everyday St. Jude costs $2 million to operate (St. Jude, 2015). Thanks to
severalpublic contributions, most of this cost is covered daily. There is not a certain percent of this $2
million used towards education. The amount of education costs varies each year depending on the
research being done
ranging from molecular
breakthroughs, therapies,
research,cures,and
learning how to save a
child’s life. The Marlo
Thomas Center for Global
Education and
317,682
323,357
81,265
166,560
108,536
Expenses at St. Jude 2014
Patient Care Services
Research
Education, Training
& Community
Support
Fundraising

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Collaboration is a certified building in St. Jude Research Hospital that supports training and education for
severalof St. Jude’s postdoctoral and graduate professionals. This center contains a state-of-the-art
medical library where research can be done and information can be shared globally with many other
professionals. The goal of education in this facility is to turn these scientific and medical leaders into
educated professionals that will one day find a cure for cancer. Until a cure is found, research will
continue to be an important part of St. Jude. Last year, $997,401 was the total expenses spent at St. Jude.
However,only $81,265 was spent on research (St. Jude,2015).
I feelas if St. Jude has an excellent program. However,if I was a Registered Dietician that was a
part of the team at St. Jude Research Hospitaland could change one part of the nutrition program, I would
try to make the food as organic as possible. Because of the diverse population at St. Jude, the kitchen
creates severalcustomized food diets to create a wide variety of food options. Even though pizza and ice
cream is delicious and a necessity of most children, organic food contains fewer chemicals, GMO’s,
hormones, antibiotics, and drugs found in animal products. If I could help families and patients
understand the importance of organic foods and find a way to fundraise the money to incorporate organic
food into St. Jude’s meals, I would. I would love to go out into the community and make connections
with local farmers. If I could purchase fresh local produce in the community, I would be helping to
increase sales and increase the market for our local producers. Perhaps,if I was a part of the team at St.
Jude Research Hospital, I could be a part-time health educator for the hospital where I would be able to
promote, maintain, and help advertise healthy local eating habits to patients and families. In a sense,I
could help others adopt healthy behaviors.
Defining a target population is very important in understand who you are dealing with. St. Jude’s
Research Hospital is a childhood’s hospital that works with curing life threatening illnesses. They take
care of any child (or young adult) regardless of the individual’s sex, ethnicity, or socioeconomic level. St.
Jude doesn’t stop seeing children once they turn 18 either because it is very important to stay with a
patient throughout their whole cancer treatment journey. In fact,it becomes very hard to develop a cut off
age for patients at St. Jude because cancer is age specific. Age specific means that young adults can

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develop what is known as childhood cancer. Even though childhood cancers rarely occur in adults, it is
easier for a pediatric oncologist to specialize in curing these patients versus an adult oncologist who is
unfamiliar with the disease. Adult oncologists mainly specialize in breast, lung, and colon cancers. This is
the main reason why St. Jude doesn’t set an age limit. Instead, St. Jude is focused on helping find cures
and helping families pay for all medical expenses.
Good nutrition is always important! However,when one is diagnosed with cancer it is essential
that their meals are nourishing. Diets should provide one with the proper nutrition to keep one strong and
combat the nasty side effects of
treatment. Treatment can do the
following: affect a patient’s appetite,
change how the patient’s body
digests food, change how the
patient’s body absorbs nutrients, and
change how the patient’s body uses
the food. During treatments, a
decrease in only 5% of body mass can greatly affect the treatment outcomes (Cancer Treatment Centers
of America, 2015)! A concern for these cancer patients is that some symptoms during treatment affect the
person’s ability to eat. This becomes crucial because the stronger a person is, the faster their body has an
ability to heal. It’s very important to eat a balanced diet and avoid diets that could leave a patient short on
key nutrients. Eating well provides severalbenefits for those with cancer. First of all, good nutrition helps
support immune functions. Cancer weakens an immune system, however, a quality diet helps to try and
reverse this effect. Also, eating well rebuilds body tissues, increases strength, decreases the risk of
infections, increases energy, and improves tolerance to treatment. Eating healthy is so important because
it helps one recuperate faster after treatment. If a cancer patient is unsure on how to eat well, it is
important they tell their oncologist so a registered dietician could be referred. A registered dietician can
help inform the patient on how to receive extra calories and protein to build up strength.

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Cancer patients typically don’t have very big appetites. This is very common during cancer
treatments. Sometimes treatments even make food taste unpleasant! However,it still is very essential to
consume an adequate diet. Several ways to do this is by eating nutrient-rich foods, choosing high-calorie
foods, eating small meals constantly throughout a day, keeping favorite foods nearby, and eating a variety
of different and colorful foods. Some foods can even help ease nasty side effects and discomforts of
cancer! Constipation can be eased by drinking lots of water and eating high-fiber foods (beans,
vegetables, and dried fruits). Dry mouths can be avoided by grinding foods to a liquid substance.
Mechanically softened diets are easier to consume. Nausea can be cured by eating bland foods (rice,
saltines, and noodles). St. Jude patients aren’t living lifestyles similar to the typical person. They aren’t
working at a job for money; they are working on their health to beat cancer. They aren’t living a fun,
crazy, carefree life; they are living a lifestyle filled with treatments, doctor visits, and finding ways to try
and ease discomforts.
“Cancer must be a punishment. What in the world did I do to deserve this?” Many times this runs
through patients minds. People see their diagnosis as a punishment. The social and emotional devastations
can take a huge toll on a cancer patient. Depression may kick in and influence behaviors including their
eating habits. The future no longer seems so bright. Every dream, plan, and goal seems to be lost.
Everything is a blur and seems uncertain. In fact,most people do face anxiety, fear,and some degree of
depression when being diagnosed with cancer. One in four patients diagnosed with cancer have clinical
depression (Illiades, 2015). Clinical depression means patients have a difficult time completing day-to-
day activities because they are so overwhelmed with sadness or the feeling of worthlessness. One of the
most prevalent signs of depression is a change in how much one eats. Some people increase their food
intake, while most people decrease the amount of food consumed. An increase or decrease in the amount
of food being consumed can fluctuate a person’s weight. As mentioned before, just a 5% change in a
cancer patient’s body mass can be detrimental and greatly affect treatment outcomes. Remembering to eat
healthy foods full of calories and nutrients is a prime component in helping a cancer patient remain as
strong as possible during treatments and decrease recovery time.

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Parent’s no longer have to feellike they have no place to turn for their child. St. Jude Research
Hospital, a hospital that is leading the world in advances and finding cures to catastrophic childhood
diseases where well educated doctors and scientists come together to work on finding cures. The value of
Registered Dieticians becomes essential in cancer facilities due to the fact they help modify diets to
improve the outcomes for patients and increase recovery time. St. Jude will continue searching for a cure
until no child has to die from cancer.

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"Top 10 ReasonsTo Go Organic."Prevention.N.p.,n.d.Web.21Sept.2015.
"Nutritional Support." CancerTreatmentCentersof America.N.p.,2015. Web.7 Oct.2015.
Feature,PeterJaretWebMD."EatingWell DuringCancerTreatment."WebMD.WebMD,n.d.Web.07
Oct. 2015.
"Depression'sEffectonYour Appetite."EverydayHealth.com.Illiades,Chrisn.d.Web.07Oct. 2015.