Hospital-Based, Community Teaching Kitchen Integrates Diabetes Education, Culinary Medicine, and Food Assistance: Case Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: Journal of general internal medicine : JGIM Vol. 38; no. Suppl 1; pp. 33 - 37
• Main Authors: Tanumihardjo, Jacob P., Davis, Heidi, Christensen, Jill, Smith, Rachel A., Kauffman-Smith, Sonya, Gunter, Kathryn E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-03-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Case studies; Child; Chronic conditions; Chronic illnesses; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Diabetes Mellitus; Disease management; Education; Food; Food Assistance; Food security; Food Supply; Hospitals, Teaching; Households; Humans; Innovations in Clinical Practice; Internal Medicine; Kitchens; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nutrition; Nutrition education; Pandemics; Patients; Program evaluation
• ISSN: 0884-8734; 1525-1497
• DOI: 10.1007/s11606-022-07931-5

Background
Recent USDA Economic Research Service Population Survey cites a stabilization of food insecurity overall in the USA between 2019 and 2020, but Black, Hispanic, and all households with children cited increases — underscoring that the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruptions to food insecurity for historically disenfranchised populations.
Aim
Describe lessons learned, considerations, and recommendations from the experience of a community teaching kitchen (CTK) in addressing food insecurity and chronic disease management among patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Setting
The Providence CTK is co-located at Providence Milwaukie Hospital in Portland, Oregon.
Participants
Providence CTK serves patients who report a higher prevalence of food insecurity and multiple chronic conditions.
Program Description
Providence CTK has five components: chronic disease self-management education, culinary nutrition education, patient navigation, a medical referral-based food pantry (Family Market), and an immersive training environment.
Program Evaluation
CTK staff highlight that they provided food and education support when it was needed most, leveraged existing partnerships and staffing to sustain operations and Family Market accessibility, shifted delivery of educational services based-on billing and virtual service considerations, and repurposed roles to support evolving needs.
Discussion
The Providence CTK case study provides a blueprint for how healthcare organizations could design a model of culinary nutrition education that is immersive, empowering, and inclusive.