Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative Thrives in New Virtual Delivery
Ardmore Institute of Health grants contributed to the Emory Healthy Kitchen projects including the latest phase to deliver the program virtually. Read more about it in the following newsletter from Emory.
Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative 2.0: From In-Person to Personal
The “why” and the “how” of better self-care for long-term health and wellness, now virtually
Another group of Emory employees just wrapped up an intervention course that provided multidisciplinary education and skill-building activities for a healthier lifestyle. The participants learned to navigate diet fads, read nutrition labels, make soups and salad dressings from scratch, meditate and practice yoga, plant a home garden, improve sleep habits, set lifestyle change goals and even had a virtual dance party!
“I learn best by doing,” shares one of the participants, “so the activities portion serves to reinforce what was taught in the lectures. I love, love, loved these concepts...”
How it started
In 2017, Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness was established as a “center for thought leadership and innovation with the mission of making self-care preventive solutions the foundation of healthcare” according to Dr. Sharon Bergquist, the medical director and founder. The Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative (EHKC) Virtual Program is a product of Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness’s mission to develop and implement unique lifestyle medicine interventions that aim to reduce the dual epidemics of chronic disease and mental health. Dr. Bergquist adds, “We not only use science but we create it—applying research tools to understanding health, longevity, and wellbeing.”
The EHKC virtual program is the second comprehensive lifestyle wellness program and clinical trial run by Sharon Bergquist, MD, Miranda Moore, PhD, Jon Bonnet, MD, and Krystyna Rastorguieva, MPH at Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness center at Emory.
The first Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative clinical trial was launched in 2019, funded by Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH). The year-long program started with a 10-week in-person intervention course, which included 5 immersive Saturday sessions. Sessions combined lectures and hands-on activities ranging from cooking and exercise, to meditation and yoga practice. The pilot was a great success as measured by participant satisfaction and changes in participants’ knowledge and skills. The core team has also developed a robust evaluation strategy, the findings of which were recognized at the 2020 Teaching Kitchen Research Conference organized by Harvard University’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health.
EHKC 2.0
In 2020, faced with the pandemic and in an effort to scale the reach of the program, the team decided to make the program completely virtual. Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness applied for and secured another round of funding from AIH, and Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative Virtual Program – EHKC VP - was born.
“Offering the program in a virtual format allowed us to overcome geographic barriers,” says Dr. Bergquist, “ and we hope this format will allow us to offer the program to broader population”.
This was not a small challenge. Hands-on learning and the power of the group were noted as the key success factors of the first program. How do you translate that into virtual setting? The team got busy. In partnership with Emory Centers for Public Health Training and Technical Assistance, an entirely virtual course was developed using a learning management system. To better utilize participants’ time, didactic lectures were pre-recorded. Live virtual classes reinforced the information in small group discussions and were used for hands-on skill building. For example, participants would receive the lists of ingredients, or exercise props, or meditation suggestions ahead of time to prepare for the live sessions. This format enabled participants to cook and practice in the comfort of their own home, often testing the results of their culinary mastery on their family members in real time.
“I was blown away at how good everything turned out!”, says another participant about the bean dishes she prepared during one of the culinary demonstrations. “I don't think I have EVER had a vegan taco (cheese always ends up making its way on the plate) but these were amazing. I will also be making my own hummus from here on out!”
Mike Bacha, the Executive Chef at Emory University Hospital, who led all the culinary demonstrations for EHKC shares that he ”loved the experience of teaching the class via Zoom this year! While disappointed that I only met a few students in person, I really enjoyed the positive comments and questions that let me know we were making a difference for people who wanted to learn some cooking skills.“
EHKC VP also received a content upgrade. The topics of sleep and behavior change were added to the lecture curriculum. The team worked with Oxford Farms to provide participants with the starter kits to go with their home gardening lessons, and incorporated dance fitness to widen the variety of physical activity options.
What is next?
The instructional portion of EHKC VP is now complete, but the journey only begins. Participants will be provided with ongoing support and resources to continue their self-care learning journey, and followed for the remainder of the year to evaluate changes in their behavior, skills and knowledge.
As the data is being gathered, the research team will dive into analyzing the results and comparing the efficacy with the in-person program, and other innovative comprehensive lifestyle programs. The conversation about EHKC 3.0 has begun as well!
The legacy of EHKC is already making an impact beyond the trial participants. Healthy Emory – an initiative that focuses on improving health and wellness of all Emory Healthcare and Emory University employees – has partnered with EHKC to incorporate their cooking demos and highlight nutrition-related content in the Emory-wide wellness campaign called Operation Eat Right, reaching over 40,000 employees.
Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness has also made it on the Food is Medicine Map, which includes teaching kitchens officially recognized by the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative non-profit global organization, and thus positions the center in line with national and international leaders in the field.
Related Grant: Emory Healthy Kitchen Collaborative Virtual Program
