Researcher Spotlight: Reducing Pediatric Opioid Use & Improving Food Access
Opioid use remains a national epidemic. For many patients, their first exposure to these drugs comes following surgery. But what if we could manage patients' pain and use fewer opioids? In addition to not exposing them to a potentially addictive drug, other benefits include:
- Less time in the ICU
- Quicker return to eating
- Faster recovery
Jeffrey Gander, MD, is an associate professor and pediatric surgeon at UVA Health Children's. His research looks at managing opioid use in pediatric surgery patients, from neonates to young adults.
Gander also is researching a prescription produce model, which would improve patient access to fresh foods, like vegetables and fruits. The hope is that improved access will help ease the burden of diet-related illnesses.
Reducing Opiate Use & Improving Access to Healthy Food
I get to collaborate with wonderful people from many different fields, pediatricians, nurses, dieticians, pharmacists, social workers, patient care technicians, residents and medical students, to improve the lives of children.
Hi, I'm Jeff Gander. I'm an associate professor of surgery and a pediatric surgeon at UVA Health Children's. I look at two of the most important issues affecting children today: reducing opiate use and increasing access to healthy food.
Our group looks at ways to limit the amount of opiates a child receives after surgery, from as young as a neonate to as old as a teenager. We have seen that doing this reduces their time in the ICU, gets them eating quicker, and going home faster. It also leads to fewer prescriptions and fewer opiates in the community.
Diet-related diseases are the number one killer of Americans. We are looking at whether a produce prescription program increases the intake of fruits and vegetables in families and whether it can change their habits to hopefully prevent diet-related diseases.
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