Evaluation of Abuela, Mamá y Yo: Informing Programmatic Level Change
Presenter Biography
Priyanka Gautom is a first year PhD student in the Community Health track and received her MPH in Health Services from the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. She is interested in understanding how cultural and social factors influence health outcomes of immigrant and refugee communities and plans to focus on community-engaged research to advance health equity
Institution
OHSU
Program/Major
Community Health
Degree
PhD
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
4-8-2021 10:50 AM
End Date
4-8-2021 10:55 AM
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/35578
Keywords
Developmental origins of health and disease, health equity, food justice, community-engagement, mixed-methods, social determinants of health
Abstract
With support from the Oregon Health and Sciences University Moore Institute for Nutrition and Wellness, Familias en Acción developed Abuela, Mamá, y Yo (AMY), a culturally-specific food equity education program for Oregon’s Latinx community. Drawing on developmental origins of health and disease concepts, this research-based program provides knowledge about nutrition and epigenetics and builds advocacy skills to link food justice, health equity, and social determinants of health. Through the cultural strengths of the Latinx community, AMY aims to reduce health inequities by promoting nutritional resiliency and educating participants on positive health practices from conception, during pregnancy, and through early childhood. The core topics of the community classes focused on decolonizing food and food systems, breastfeeding, and the first 1,000 days of life. Over 290 community members participated in a total of 29 sessions across Oregon. The program evaluation employed a mixed-methods approach that utilized qualitative and quantitative data from pre-and post-surveys to explore changes in knowledge in the topics emphasized by the curriculum. Overall, the results indicate an increase in knowledge for all topics, especially for the importance of the first 1,000 days of life. These findings allow for Familias en Acción to evaluate the current curriculum and may inform programmatic level change for future sessions.
Evaluation of Abuela, Mamá y Yo: Informing Programmatic Level Change
With support from the Oregon Health and Sciences University Moore Institute for Nutrition and Wellness, Familias en Acción developed Abuela, Mamá, y Yo (AMY), a culturally-specific food equity education program for Oregon’s Latinx community. Drawing on developmental origins of health and disease concepts, this research-based program provides knowledge about nutrition and epigenetics and builds advocacy skills to link food justice, health equity, and social determinants of health. Through the cultural strengths of the Latinx community, AMY aims to reduce health inequities by promoting nutritional resiliency and educating participants on positive health practices from conception, during pregnancy, and through early childhood. The core topics of the community classes focused on decolonizing food and food systems, breastfeeding, and the first 1,000 days of life. Over 290 community members participated in a total of 29 sessions across Oregon. The program evaluation employed a mixed-methods approach that utilized qualitative and quantitative data from pre-and post-surveys to explore changes in knowledge in the topics emphasized by the curriculum. Overall, the results indicate an increase in knowledge for all topics, especially for the importance of the first 1,000 days of life. These findings allow for Familias en Acción to evaluate the current curriculum and may inform programmatic level change for future sessions.