next reporting period.) ● Goal: Prioritize topics for the resource. ● Goal: Select topics for the resource.
○ Objective: Topics are peer reviewed by staff from community support programs. ● Goal: Complete two conversation guides. ○ Objective: Draft conversation guides are peer reviewed by staff from community support programs
Does your project work with veterans or veteran farmers? No
Does your project work with diverse, under-served, or underrepresented audiences? Yes
Please explain briefly how your project works with these audiences. In March of 2020, we began robust partnerships with five Minnesota-based mental health organizations to support nutrition education efforts for members and staff. These organizations provide a variety of community-based support services (also called community support programs - CSPs) for adults living with a diagnosed mental illness. Many of the people we serve are: ● Living with comorbid chronic conditions (diabetes, heart disease) in addition to serious mental illness and/or substance use disorders. ● Living with very low incomes which can impact access to housing, transportation, grocery stores, and other supports. In our experience, many of the people we serve: ● Have a lot of concerns around food and how to “eat healthy” ● Do not have easy access to healthy foods for a variety of social, mental health, or physical health factors ● May not yet be ready to “take action” related to food but are willing to talk about it and learn ● Feel overwhelmed or defeated regarding what to do. Also, many are not able or interested in attending a formal group or seeing a Registered Dietitian.
The community support center staff are behavior change experts and are: ● Trained in Motivational Interviewing ● Skilled at linking people to community resources and supports. ● Understand the barriers and strengths of the people they serve.
Our approach includes training the CSP workforce and engaging the people they serve by
34
Powered by FlippingBook