Gina Drobena, M.D., presented at the Teaching Kitchen Research Conference in Los Angeles, California on October 19. The poster presentation entitled “Developing Knowledge, Attitudes and Perceptions to Advance Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine and Health Equity through Interprofessional Collaborative Care” demonstrated the effectiveness of the implementation of a three and a half hour interprofessional teaching kitchen session consisting of orientation (Culinary Medicine (CM), Mediterranean/plant-based diet, mindfulness, basic kitchen skills/safety), and an immersive cooking activity with case-based patient application. A debriefing discussion was conducted monthly as part of a campus-wide interprofessional curriculum requirement. Key result findings demonstrated a knowledge mean scores increase of 25% as well as mean Likert scores of (4.4-4.8), indicating students agreed this was an effective learning experience.
Drobena’s study concluded that interprofessional teaching kitchen activities positively impact students’ attitudes and perceptions regarding dietary practice, culinary skills, weight bias, food insecurity, interprofessional collaboration to provide healthy eating education, and the importance of changing provider-patient care conversations from a weight-based focus to healthful eating and activity.
