The Northwest Interprofessional Health Collaborative (NIHC) recently secured a $56,800 grant from Greater Health Now’s Community Investment program, Connect2Everyone. The grant empowers the NIHC to enhance the Expanding Community Impact of Culinary Medicine in Yakima County pilot project, and to offer more culinary medicine teaching classes to health professions learners.
The Culinary Medicine program is designed to familiarize health professions students with the value of learning about healthy food and ingredients through practical, hands-on, and culturally relevant training in meal planning and quality food preparation. Led by PNWU Professor of Nutrition Dr. Kathaleen Briggs-Early and Elaina Moon, owner of Healthy Eats Nutrition Services, the sessions are free and open to all NIHC participants, including health sciences students from PNWU, Central Washington University, Heritage University, and Washington State University.
“Integrating the art of food preparation and cooking with the science of nutrition and evidence-based medicine equips students with the essential skills for engaging in effective behavior-change conversations with their future patients,” said NIHC Program Manager Jennifer Garehime.
In addition to offering more culinary medicine classes to students, the Connect2Everyone grant aims to enhance the NIHC’s community outreach and influence efforts, including student-led culinary medicine community demonstrations. It also furnishes the necessary support to assess the impact of the culinary medicine program on learners’ ability to provide nutrition advice to their patients, as well as the efficacy of culinary medicine demonstrations in educating community members on healthy meal preparation, Garehime explained.
The NIHC hosted an introduction for PNWU faculty and staff on March 28, and the first student demonstration of the semester was held during the NIHC’s Interprofessional Education (IPE) Symposium on April 5.