Dataset Information

P133 Pivoting to Online Nutrition Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results and Lessons Learned from Cooking Matters

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Evaluate the process and outcomes associated with pivoting Cooking Matters curriculum to online nutrition education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Use of Theory or Research

Cooking Matters uses evidence-based curricula built upon the Social Cognitive Theory, with a focus on increasing self-efficacy through participatory food skills education to enable positive behavior change.

Target Audience

Low-income adults, parents and caregivers, and families receiving services or programming from schools and community-based organizations across the United States from June 2020 until June 2021.

Program Description

Cooking Matters curriculum was pivoted to an online nutrition education setting at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to teach participants how to shop for and prepare healthy meals on a limited budget.

Evaluation Methods

With support from IMPAQ International, LLC (a third-party evaluator), Cooking Matters online delivered programming was evaluated through 9,187 participant surveys completed post-participation and through virtual/Zoom in-depth interviews with 24 individuals from 13 partner organizations implementing the curricula.

Results

Participants reported high confidence to apply food skills such as making mealtimes positive and high intention to use food skills in the future such as money-saving tips. Over 90% of participants were satisfied with the instructor and class environment. Partners described that online programming accommodated more participants due to lack of physical space limitations, was convenient for participants because it decreased travel time, allowed for food preparation in participants' kitchens, was more burdensome for staff, decreased curriculum engagement at times, and did not foster the same communal ties as in-person.

Conclusions

Online delivery allowed Cooking Matters to continue offering programming during the pandemic. To ensure responsiveness to participant and partner needs, we centered the voice of our end users, developed nutrition education reflective of these unique needs and desires, and released our new online approach focusing on digital delivery. Based on this evaluation, Cooking Matters will continue supporting partners in delivering virtual programming as an additional means of reaching busy parents and caregivers.

Funding

None

SUBMITTER: Panichelli J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9260034 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:2018 marks the 100-year anniversary of the 1918 influenza pandemic, which killed ~50 million people worldwide. The severity of this pandemic resulted from a complex interplay between viral, host, and societal factors. Here, we review the viral, genetic and immune factors that contributed to the severity of the 1918 pandemic and discuss the implications for modern pandemic preparedness. We address unresolved questions of why the 1918 influenza H1N1 virus was more virulent than other influenza pandemics and why some people survived the 1918 pandemic and others succumbed to the infection. While current studies suggest that viral factors such as haemagglutinin and polymerase gene segments most likely contributed to a potent, dysregulated pro-inflammatory cytokine storm in victims of the pandemic, a shift in case-fatality for the 1918 pandemic toward young adults was most likely associated with the host's immune status. Lack of pre-existing virus-specific and/or cross-reactive antibodies and cellular immunity in children and young adults likely contributed to the high attack rate and rapid spread of the 1918 H1N1 virus. In contrast, lower mortality rate in in the older (>30 years) adult population points toward the beneficial effects of pre-existing cross-reactive immunity. In addition to the role of humoral and cellular immunity, there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that individual genetic differences, especially involving single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), contribute to differences in the severity of influenza virus infections. Co-infections with bacterial pathogens, and possibly measles and malaria, co-morbidities, malnutrition or obesity are also known to affect the severity of influenza disease, and likely influenced 1918 H1N1 disease severity and outcomes. Additionally, we also discuss the new challenges, such as changing population demographics, antibiotic resistance and climate change, which we will face in the context of any future influenza virus pandemic. In the last decade there has been a dramatic increase in the number of severe influenza virus strains entering the human population from animal reservoirs (including highly pathogenic H7N9 and H5N1 viruses). An understanding of past influenza virus pandemics and the lessons that we have learnt from them has therefore never been more pertinent.