Plant-Based Prevention Of Disease Inc

OUR SECTION 501(C)(3) RECOGNIZED TAX-EXEMPT EDUCATIONAL NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION PLANT-BASED PREVENTION OF DISEASE, INC. (P-POD) PRODUCES FULLY ACCREDITED NATIONAL CONFERENCES EXPLORING EVIDENCE-BASED NUTRITION, LIFESTYLE MEDICINE AND HEALTH EQUITY IN THE PREVENTION AND EVEN TREATMENT/REVERSAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, CANCER, DIABETES, CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE AND OTHER CHRONIC ILLNESSES. IN ADDITION TO HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS, PARTICIPANTS NORMALLY INCLUDE EDUCATORS, RESEARCHERS AND STUDENTS IN HEALTH-RELATED FIELDS, COMMUNITY HEALTH ACTIVISTS AND PUBLIC POLICY PROFESSIONALS.OUR NONPROFITS WEBSITE IS REACHABLE AT P-POD.ORG OR PREVENTIONOFDISEASE.ORG. OTHER PAGE ADDRESSES INCLUDE AGENDA.P-POD.ORG, CE.P-POD.ORG, CORE.P-POD.ORG, DONATE.P-POD.ORG, SPEAKERS.P-POD.ORG.UNIQUE ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES. OUR NONPROFIT SINCE ITS 2014 FOUNDING HAS ALWAYS ACCEPTED ABSOLUTELY ZERO FUNDING, SPONSORSHIP OR INFLUENCE FROM COMMERCIAL SOURCES, AND STRIVED TO MAINTAIN MORE AFFORDABLE REGISTRATION PRICES THAN WOULD BE FOUND FOR MOST ACCREDITED PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES IN THE U.S. VIA THE LATTER WE HAVE INTENDED THAT A BROAD DIVERSE SPECTRUM OF GRASSROOTS ATTENDEES AND COMMUNITY-LEVEL HEALTH PROMOTERS MAY PARTICIPATE, AND WE HAVE SOUGHT TO EXPAND THIS ACCESSIBILITY NOT ONLY THROUGH VOLUNTEER PRESENCE AT ALL EVENTS, BUT ALSO THROUGH OUR NEED-BASED DONATION-SUPPORTED SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, WHICH AS OF THREE YEARS AFTER LAUNCH HAS ENABLED 47 DEMOGRAPHICALLY DIVERSE INDIVIDUALS TO ATTEND.CONTINUING EDUCATION. OUR 11TH, 12TH AND 13TH CONFERENCES, HELD IN MAY, JUNE AND OCTOBER 2022, AWARDED A TOTAL OF UP TO 41 CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT HOURS TO PHYSICIANS, OSTEOPATHS, NURSE PRACTITIONERS, PHYSICIAN ASSISTANTS, REGISTERED NURSES, REGISTERED DIETITIANS, DIETETIC TECHNICIANS AND CANDIDATES FOR THE DIPLOMATE CREDENTIALING EXAMINATION PRODUCED BY THE AMERICAN BOARD OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE AND AMERICAN COLLEGE OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE. MAINTENANCE OF CERTIFICATION CREDITS WERE ALSO PROVIDED TO DIPLOMATES, AND CERTIFICATES FOR AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS PRESCRIBED CREDITS WERE ADDED FOR 2022 ONWARD. OTHER PRACTITIONERS SUCH AS PHYSICAL THERAPISTS, OCCUPATIONAL THERAPISTS, PHARMACISTS, PSYCHOLOGISTS, CERTIFIED HEALTH EDUCATORS OR CERTIFIED HEALTH COACHES DID ALSO PARTICIPATE, AND IN VARIOUS CASES WERE ABLE TO PRESENT CREDITS EARNED TO APPLICABLE STATE REGULATORY BOARDS IN THEIR OWN FIELDS. WE DO EMPHASIZE STRONGLY THE RELEVANCE OF THE WHOLE HEALTHCARE TEAM IN ADDRESSING AND INFLUENCING THE LIFESTYLES AND CHRONIC DISEASE INCIDENCE OF PATIENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS, AND ALL CAN BENEFIT SUBSTANTIALLY FROM CONTINUING EDUCATION EXPOSURE TO PRINCIPLES AND CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES OF NUTRITION, LIFESTYLE MEDICINE AND HEALTH EQUITY THAT HAVE TYPICALLY BEEN MUCH NEGLECTED DURING PRIMARY LEVEL PREPARATION IN THESE FIELDS.OTHER UNIQUENESSES. TO BRING TOGETHER, FOR BENEFIT OF A WIDE RANGE OF PRACTITIONERS, A CURRICULUM SPANNING EVIDENCE-BASED PLANT-BASED NUTRITION, LIFESTYLE MEDICINE, HEALTH EQUITY AND REDUCTION OF SOCIETAL CHRONIC DISEASE, EACH WITH STRONG CONSCIENTIOUS EMPHASIS, IS A REMARKABLE VENTURE, AND ITS UNDERTAKING BY AN ORGANIZATION OF SUCH LIMITED RESOURCES IS UTTERLY UNIQUE.**THE P-POD STAFF OF FOUR TO FIVE PART-TIME INDIVIDUALS PRODUCED THREE IN-PERSON 2022 CONFERENCES (TWO OF THEM WITH VIRTUAL LIVESTREAM SIMULCASTS) THROUGH AN AVERAGE OF JUST SEVENTY-FOUR HOURS PER WEEK OF STAFF TIME, LESS THAN TWO FULL-TIME-EQUIVALENT POSITIONS.**P-PODS REPRESENTATION CHOICES ARE UNUSUAL FOR AN ACCREDITED PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCE. MOST OF THE DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHERS, CLINICIANS AND EDUCATORS WHO PRESENT ARE WOMEN, AND CLOSE TO HALF ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR. LIKEWISE, MOST OF THE NONPROFIT BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERS ARE WOMEN, AND 46% ARE PEOPLE OF COLOR. IRONICALLY, IT ALSO SEEMS UNUSUAL FOR A NUTRITION OR DISEASE PREVENTION ORIENTED CONFERENCE TO REPRESENT REGISTERED DIETITIANS WELL AMONG ITS SPEAKERS, BUT P-POD HAS PROGRAMMED 69 RDN PRESENTERS IN ITS 13 CONFERENCES.**P-POD'S INNOVATIVE CURRICULUM OF 13 CORE TOPIC AREAS IS OF UNUSUALLY HIGH RELEVANCE AND VALUE FOR HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS, EDUCATORS, STUDENTS AND ACTIVISTS, AND THE TOPIC LIST IS SHOWN IN ITS ENTIRETY AT THE END OF THIS NARRATIVE.CHALLENGES AND PRIORITY-SETTING. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC UTTERLY DISRUPTED SOCIETY, AND DESTABILIZED FAMILIAR EDUCATIONAL MODALITIES IN BOTH SHORT-TERM AND LONG-TERM WAYS. IT IS OF COURSE NO SURPRISE THAT P-POD WAS FORCED TO CONVERT ALL FOUR CONFERENCES OF THE TWO YEARS PRIOR TO 2022 TO VIRTUAL-ONLY PARTICIPATION AFTER INITIALLY CONTRACTING TO PRODUCE THEM IN-PERSON. THE RETURN TO IN-PERSON PRODUCTION IN 2022, COVERING LOCALES IN MICHIGAN, NORTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA, WAS PROFOUNDLY UNDERMINED BY THE LINGERING EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC UPON THE CONFERENCE LANDSCAPE.ANECDOTALLY, U.S. CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS CONFRONTED CONCERNS THAT MANY PAST ATTENDEES WOULD WELL INTO THE FUTURE RETAIN APPREHENSION ABOUT POTENTIAL INFECTION RISKS DUE TO IN-PERSON GATHERINGS. OR, THAT THEY WOULD HAVE FOUND HOW EASY THE NEWFOUND VIRTUAL LEARNING SETTING WAS, THUS MAKING THE COST/TIME/INCONVENIENCE BURDEN OF TRAVELING TO IN-PERSON EVENTS SEEM UNAPPEALING BY COMPARISON. WE PERCEIVED ANOTHER CONCERN, BECAUSE A LARGE PORTION OF PAST ATTENDANCE HAD BEEN DRAWN FROM HEALTHCARE PRACTITIONERS BELOW THE MEDIAN-POINT OF THE COMPENSATION-CONTINUUM, AS FOR EXAMPLE MANY REGISTERED NURSES AND REGISTERED DIETITIANS MAY BE, AND DRAWN FROM COMMUNITY-BASED GRASSROOTS HEALTHCARE PROMOTERS. WE THOUGHT THAT THE ECONOMIC AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE PANDEMIC CRISIS WOULD DOWNGRADE FUTURE IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE. THE COMBINED OVERALL INFLUENCE OF ALL THE ABOVE WAS UNKNOWN, BUT WE WERE FEARFUL. WE WOULD BECOME SURPRISED BY ANOTHER OFFSHOOT OF THE ECONOMIC FALLOUT: REPORTS THAT MANY HOSPITAL SYSTEMS AND OTHER MAJOR MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE U.S. WERE DECREASING OR ELIMINATING THEIR TRADITIONAL SUBSIDIES OF CONTINUING EDUCATION ACTIVITIES FOR THEIR PRACTITIONER-EMPLOYEES, AN ACTION THAT WOULD MOST TANGIBLY SQUEEZE STAFF ON THE LOWER RANGES OF THE WAGE SPECTRUM.THEREFORE, OUR NONPROFIT EXPECTED SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED ATTENDANCE AFTER THE INITIAL PANDEMIC YEAR, THOUGH IF THERE WAS EVER A TIME THAT AN EVIDENCE-BASED CONFERENCE ADDRESSING CHRONIC DISEASE WAS NEEDED, IT WAS GOING TO BE THEN ONWARD. WE MADE A DRAMATIC MISSION-ABOVE-ALL-ELSE DECISION TO TRY TO KEEP REACHING AS MANY ATTENDEES PER YEAR AS WE POSSIBLY COULD UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, BY THE ADMITTEDLY-EXPENSIVE APPROACH OF INCREASING OUR NUMBER OF EVENTS PER YEAR. WE INCREASED FROM ONE ANNUAL TO THREE ANNUAL CONFERENCES IN 2021 (WITH ALL EVENTUALLY CONVERTING TO ALL-VIRTUAL) AND IN 2022 (WITH ALL PRODUCED IN-PERSON, AND TWO INCLUDING A VIRTUAL LIVESTREAM OPTION). AS A RESULT, TOTAL COMBINED PAID ATTENDANCE FOR EACH OF THESE TWO YEARS WAS 34%-35% HIGHER THAN THE HIGHEST EVER ACHIEVED IN A SINGLE PRE-PANDEMIC YEAR, A SUCCESSFUL RESULT EDUCATIONALLY. HOWEVER, OVERHEAD COST PER ATTENDEE OBVIOUSLY HAD INCREASED DRAMATICALLY, AND FOR IN-PERSON PRODUCTIONS OF 2022, THE DAUNTING ARRAY OF EXPENSES BEING SPREAD OVER A HISTORICALLY-MUCH-LOWER HEADCOUNT-PER-EVENT RESULTED IN MASSIVE OPERATING LOSSES FOR THE YEAR.BASICALLY, P-POD SPENT ITS SAVINGS AND RAINY-DAY-FUNDS IN 2022 FOR THE PURPOSE OF RE-ESTABLISHING IN-PERSON PROGRAMMING, AND SUSTAINING EDUCATIONAL MISSION, REACH AND REPUTATION DURING ADVERSE CIRCUMSTANCES. CRITICAL RESPONSE FROM SPEAKERS AND ATTENDEES ALIKE TO THE QUALITY OF OUR 2022 OFFERINGS WAS STRIKING POSITIVE AND ENTHUSIASTIC, REINFORCING CONFIDENCE THAT OUR WORK IS POISED TO ESTABLISH NEW POST-PANDEMIC SUSTAINABILITY BASED UPON OUR CLEARLY-DEFINED DISTINCTIVE VALUES, CURRICULUM AND BASE OF SPEAKER EXPERTISE GOING FORWARD.WE WILL WORK TOWARD A FUTURE FRAMEWORK OF IN-PERSON (WITH VIRTUAL OPTION) CONFERENCES BASED BOTH IN THE NORTHEAST AND SOUTHEAST U.S., TYPICALLY WITH ADDITION OF ONE ANNUAL ALL-VIRTUAL EVENT. WE WILL RELY EVEN MORE HEAVILY ON SMALL FOUNDATION GRANTS AND DONATIONS TO SUPPLEMENT THE REVENUE OUR SMALL NONPROFIT RECEIVES FROM ATTENDEE REGISTRATION FEES THAT WE SEEK TO MAINTAIN AT MODEST COST LEVELS.CORE TOPIC AREAS, P-PODS UNIQUE CURRICULUM. OUR LONGTIME THEME "THE FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE BEGINS WITH NUTRITION", OUR FOUNDING COMMITMENT TO PURSUE PREVENTION/MITIGATION/REVERSAL OF CHRONIC DISEASE, AND OUR STRONG FOCUS ON LIFESTYLE MEDICINE AND HEALTH EQUITY, LED TO THE FOLLOWING INNOVATIVE CURRICULUM STRUCTURE. WE SEEK TO MEET THE VERY HIGH STANDARD OF REPRESENTING EACH ONE OF THE FOLLOWING IMPORTANT SUBJECT AREAS AT EACH FULL P-POD CONFERENCEPROMOTING HEALTHFUL BEHAVIORS AT THE COMMUNITY-PROGRAM AND PRIMARY-CARE LEVELSCANCER PREVENTION AND SURVIVORSHIPCARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH AND DISEASEDIABETES PREVENTION OR REVERSALEXERCISE PHYSIOLOGY, AND MOVEMENT IN DAILY LIFESTYLEHEALTH EQUITY, VULNERABLE POPULATIONS, AND ACCESS DISPARITIES FOR CARE AND NUTRITIOUS-FOODKIDNEY HEALTH AND CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASEMENTAL AND BRAIN HEALTHMICROBIOTA / GUT HEALTH AND DYSBIOSIS; GUT-BRAIN AXIS; IMMUNE HOMEOSTA