Perceived Capacity of Community Nutrition Education Programming to Address the Needs of Neurodivergent and Physically...

To assess nutrition educators' perceptions of community nutrition education programs' capacity to address the needs of neurodivergent and physically disabled program participants.

Personnel with nutrition education programs in California participated in a cross-sectional multimethod study. Measured variables included agreement with the current capacity, future needs, and personal competence in providing programming for neurodivergent and physically disabled program participants. Open-answer items provided an opportunity to contribute qualitative contextualizing comments. Quantitative items were summarized, and qualitative data were analyzed with a basic inductive content approach.

A total of 60 individuals responded to the survey. Perceptions about current capacity and competence to provide programming varied across population groups. Approximately half of the respondents felt programming was inclusive for both population groups. Simultaneously, more than 85% felt that programming should be more inclusive for both population groups. Cross-cutting qualitative comments were organized into 3 themes: (1) risk awareness and mitigation, (2) training for nutrition education personnel, and (3) nutrition education program improvements.

Nutrition education personnel perceived gaps in the program capacity for neurodivergent and physically disabled participants. Training for nutrition education personnel, curricula development, program delivery, and evaluation improvements represent the primary opportunities identified by participants to increase program accessibility for these populations.