AUCD | Project

Project Description:

Through collaboration with the Walmart Foundation, the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) will partner with four University Centers of Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) to provide a nutrition education intervention for people with disabilities and their families. Nutrition is for Everyone is a one-year pilot project (May 1, 2016-May 1, 2017) that will provide direct nutrition education for an estimated 16,000 people in the disability community across four states AR, LA, OK and TN. The primary goal of the grant in Arkansas, was to create and offer adapted curriculum Cooking Matters classes throughout the state. We also aimed to increase outreach by establishing partnerships and hosting multiple small or large nutrition education events. In accomplishing these goals, we strived to increase awareness of nutrition education, increase fruit and vegetable consumption, and increase overall access to fruits and vegetables in the disability community. Arkansas started with adapting the lessons and recipes from the original Cooking Matters curriculum for those with Intellectual disabilities and Physical disabilities. We also created recipes to have a wider variety of healthy recipes to include additional fruits and vegetables in our classes. For the lessons, we picked out topic points that absolutely needed to be addressed. We provided the lessons during the cooking class, allowing participants to learn visually and hands on as the class progressed. We used handouts and visual aids (large print color photos, actual food items, hand washing demonstrations, knife handling demonstrations, etc.) to increase understanding and retention. We played interactive games and had nutrition activities ongoing while cooking throughout the classes as well to help increase lesson retention. The Cooking Matters recipes and developed recipes were broken down into larger print and each food item has a photo beside the ingredient. This allowed for easier association from ingredients to actual food items. We utilized two different methods for measuring, the Using Your Hand guide for measuring tools and by using photo/chart guides for the measuring tools, allowing for real world practical use of measuring tools. We hosted four adapted Cooking Matters classes throughout the state. All participants were successful in retaining information (assumed only after follow up evaluation) and learning new cooking skills applicable to their everyday life. During the class, we introduced many new skills (using mixing tools, measuring ingredients, chopping, etc.) that the participants had never experienced and s/p their follow up survey, had incorporated into their daily lives. The participants all had an increase in fruit and vegetable consumption at the end of their six-week course, many trying new fruits and vegetables that were unfamiliar prior to classes. We also hosted multiple training events for people with disabilities, caregivers, and families of people. In these events, we taught a broken-down curriculum of nutrition education, appropriate and relatable for those with Intellectual and Physical disabilities. We worked to provide nutrition education and healthy snack/fuel options for over 15,000 athletes with ID in partnership with Special Olympics. Over the last grant year, we have established long lasting partnerships with Special Olympics of Arkansas, Pathfinders facilities, Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, Health and Disabilities, Arkansas Obesity Coalition, and many more. These partnerships help the opportunity for our program to be sustainable. They have agreed to continue the classes, including majority of the funding, allowing the grant to focus on extending its program and reach to now educating disability caregivers while the disability cooking classes are continued.

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Nutrition is for Everyone