Hospital-Based, Community Teaching Kitchen Integrates Diabetes Education, Culinary Medicine, and Food Assistance: Case Study During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Recent USDA Economic Research Service Population Survey cites a stabilization of food insecurity overall in the USA between 2019 and 2020, but Black, Hispanic, and all households with children cited increases - underscoring that the COVID-19 pandemic caused severe disruptions to food insecurity for historically disenfranchised populations.

AIM: Describe lessons learned, considerations, and recommendations from the experience of a community teaching kitchen (CTK) in addressing food insecurity and chronic disease management among patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SETTING: The Providence CTK is co-located at Providence Milwaukie Hospital in Portland, Oregon.

PARTICIPANTS: Providence CTK serves patients who report a higher prevalence of food insecurity and multiple chronic conditions.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: Providence CTK has five components: chronic disease self-management education, culinary nutrition education, patient navigation, a medical referral-based food pantry (Family Market), and an immersive training environment.

PROGRAM EVALUATION: CTK staff highlight that they provided food and education support when it was needed most, leveraged existing partnerships and staffing to sustain operations and Family Market accessibility, shifted delivery of educational services based-on billing and virtual service considerations, and repurposed roles to support evolving needs.

DISCUSSION: The Providence CTK case study provides a blueprint for how healthcare organizations could design a model of culinary nutrition education that is immersive, empowering, and inclusive.