Design, Implementation, and Feasibility of a Community Co-Led Culinary Medicine Shared Medical Appointment Model

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nutrition Science
• Medical Education

Background:

• Standard American diets often lack essential nutrients, contributing to preventable diseases.
• Limited culinary skills and poor nutritional literacy are significant barriers to healthy eating.
• Dietary interventions are crucial for disease prevention but require effective delivery methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of culinary medicine-focused Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) for enhancing patient culinary and nutrition literacy.
• To evaluate patient engagement and retention in a novel culinary nutrition education program.
• To explore a financially sustainable model for delivering integrated culinary and medical care.

Main Methods:

• Patients were recruited from a Culinary Medicine Clinic for a 2-month program of 6 culinary medicine-focused SMAs held in community church kitchens.
• Each class featured physician and dietitian-led goal setting, culinary skill demonstrations, and supervised cooking sessions.
• Feasibility was assessed through health records and patient-reported data, including attendance rates and qualitative interviews.

Main Results:

• Sixty patients across four cohorts demonstrated a 75% average attendance rate, indicating high engagement.
• The program primarily served predominantly Black (55%) and female (87%) patients with common diagnoses of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.
• Qualitative interviews highlighted peer co-learning as a key factor in patient engagement and skill acquisition.

Conclusions:

• Culinary medicine-focused SMAs present a feasible and effective model for delivering culinary nutrition education.
• The program demonstrated significant patient engagement and retention, suggesting a strong potential for improving health behaviors.
• This approach provides a foundation for a financially sustainable model integrating nutrition education into primary care.