A Group-Based, Six-Lesson Healthy Eating Curriculum for Individuals With Serious Mental Illnesses: Development and Implementation

As part of an intervention tailored to individuals with serious mental illnesses in residential settings that aimed to increase dietary intake of fresh vegetables and fruits, we developed and implemented a nutrition and cooking curriculum. To develop the curriculum, we assembled a Workgroup that con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Community mental health journal 2024-10, Vol.60 (7), p.1352-1363
Main Authors: Fu, En, Farland, Gabriella, Cohen, Dana, Gerstler, Cheryl, Margolies, Paul, Pope, Leah, Rotter, Merrill, Compton, Michael T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cognitive development
Community and Environmental Psychology
Cooking
Curricula
Farmers
Food preparation
Fruits
Healthy food
Housing
Illnesses
Markets
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental disorders
Nutrition
Original Paper
Psychiatry
Vegetables
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Summary:As part of an intervention tailored to individuals with serious mental illnesses in residential settings that aimed to increase dietary intake of fresh vegetables and fruits, we developed and implemented a nutrition and cooking curriculum. To develop the curriculum, we assembled a Workgroup that consisted of professionals from multiple fields. The Workgroup held weekly discussions before drafting what would become the Workbook. Residential staff at partnering housing agencies taught the curriculum to residents. The curriculum Workbook contains six lessons, which are organized around two field trips to a mobile farmers market and a grocery store, and four cooking methods. The Workbook also includes instructions on using FreshConnect Checks at mobile farmers markets. The new curriculum distinguishes itself from other nutrition and culinary literacy curricula in that it delivers knowledge about fresh produce and skills in preparing fruits and vegetables in a way that is tailored to individuals with serious mental illnesses.
ISSN:0010-3853
1573-2789
1573-2789
DOI:10.1007/s10597-024-01291-6