Student Satisfaction and Experience Following Training and Delivery of Interprofessional Cooking Classes for Adults With Disability Living in Group Homes: A Pilot Study

OBJECTIVES: Individuals with disabilities (IwD) often need an interdisciplinary team including nutrition professionals and physical and occupational therapists to manage care. The purpose of this study was to 1) evaluate dietetic, occupational therapy (OT), and physical therapy (PT) students’ satisfaction and experience with an online training and implementation of interprofessional cooking classes for IwD living in group homes, and 2) describe students’ experience working in an interprofessional team. METHODS: The training and intervention took place during fall 2021. The training included 5 online asynchronous modules and a 3-hour synchronous class on: cooking 5 recipes, communicating with IwD, and interprofessional education. Students completed a 22-item closed and open-ended survey related to their satisfaction with the training, cooking class implementation and working in interprofessional teams. Both quantitative data analyses and analysis of preliminary qualitative themes are presented. RESULTS: Eleven graduate students representing Dietetics, PT and OT participated. Ten completed the survey. Ten cooking classes were delivered across 4 group homes. All students agreed that the training was clear and easy to follow, and provided skills to implement the cooking classes and work with IwD. Nine students agreed the training prepared them to lead cooking demonstrations and that training length was appropriate. Students enjoyed the training's flexibility, found that it offered ways to modify cooking steps to engage IwD, and enjoyed the interaction with residents and students across disciplines. Cooking class implementation difficulties cited were: driving distances to group homes, engaging IwD, and coordinating cooking class plans. All students agreed the experience positively impacted their awareness and value of other professional roles, the need for support from other professionals, and their ability to work together on an interdisciplinary team. CONCLUSIONS: A combination of synchronous and asynchronous online training to deliver cooking classes in group homes is a feasible and effective way to provide student training on caring for IwD and a novel interprofessional opportunity. FUNDING SOURCES: The New Jersey Division of Disability Services.