Making healthy Lifestyle Choices and Citizen EducationPlan of Work

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Fayette County CES

Title:
Making healthy Lifestyle Choices and Citizen Education
MAP:
Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices and Citizen Education
Agents Involved:
Dockery, Doggett, Lindsay, Neal
MAJOR PROGRAM 1:
Faithful Families
MAJOR PROGRAM 2:
Local Food Systems
MAJOR PROGRAM 3:
Business Retention and Expansion
MAJOR PROGRAM 4:
Active Living and Health Promotions General
Situation:

The obesity epidemic threatens the quality of life years of life of Kentuckians. Obese individuals are at increased risk for many chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancers. The obesity rate in Kentucky increased 90% over the last 15 years. Thirty-percent of individuals in the Commonwealth report no leisure-time physical activity. Increased consumption of unhealthy foods, stress, and built environments that promote physical inactivity are largely responsible for the obesity epidemic.

Nutrition education programs, local / home garden, and farmer's markets help families gain access to food and stretch food dollars; communities to decrease hunger; and local food assistance programs to educate recipients on healthy safe food preparation methods, importance of sustainable practices, and improvement of individual/local gardening practices. Citizens receive education on senior issues, parenting and low vision resources. Agents, paraprofessionals, and volunteers are pivotal in training consumers and producers to maximize local access to food products from farm to table.

There are over 9950 children in out of home care, of which 1444 reside in the Southern Bluegrass Region. Substance abuse contributed to 50% of all child abuse and neglect cases. These numbers contribute to the instability of families, communities, social services and economic stability and growth. 

Parenting education programs reduce risk factors that are known to contribute to abuse and neglect. Teaching skills like communicating with respect, nurturing parenting, alternatives to spanking, understanding feelings, conflict resolution, ages and stages of development, praising children and their behavior and other parenting skills aid in prevention and reduction of child and neglect.


Long-Term Outcomes:

Increase in the practice and promotion of physical activity and healthy eating.

Improve access and availability of local foods to the community. Provide education and resource availability regarding senior social issues, low visibility and parenting.

Reduce the number of children placed in out of home care. 

Reduce the numbers of cases for abuse and neglect

Reduce the recidivism rate of cases of abuse and neglect.

Improve nurturing parenting skills.

Intermediate Outcomes:

Practice of physical activity and healthy food choices in families and communities through decreased time of sedentary behaviors, maintaining appropriate calorie intake, and practicing healthy lifestyle decision-making that strengthen individual’s ability to cope with normal life stressors.

Residents will increase practices related to Community and Economic Development by increased participation in job preparedness programs, involvement in local community events, developing new jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities, and adopting fiscally responsible behaviors

Participants will practice nurturing parenting skills with their children.

Participants will have children returned to home. 

Initial Outcomes:

Change in awareness, knowledge, opinions, skills, and attitudes towards parenting, discipline, home management and conflict resolution skills.

The practice and promotion of healthy food and nutrition, financial and mental well-being.

Evaluation:

Outcome:  Long-term Families will be reunited

Indicator:  Participants will use alternative to spanking, which reduces the risk of physical abuse. No new cases of abuse or neglect.

Method:  Self-reported

Timeline:  ongoing


Outcome:  Intermediate: No new cases/allegations of abuse or     

neglect.

Indicator:  Participants will practice using alternatives to spanking, effective communication, conflict resolution and will have appropriate expectations for children. 

Method:  Self-report 

Timeline: ongoing 

Outcome:  Initial: Change in awareness, knowledge, opinions, skills, and attitudes towards parenting, discipline, home management and conflict resolution skills.

Indicator:  Participants will learn to adopt nurturing parenting skills that increase the child’s self-esteem, set age appropriate boundaries and expectations, establish effective communication habits and apply increased knowledge and awareness that was learned.

Method:  Weekly Evaluation/Survey, AAPI 1 and AAPI2

Timeline:  Ongoing


Learning Opportunities:

Audience: Youth

Project or Activity: LEAP

Content or Curriculum: LEAP curriculum

Inputs: Kentucky Cooperative Extension Agents, NEP Program assistants, CES Publications

Date: Ongoing


Audience: Adults

Project or Activity: Physical Activity Programs

Content or Curriculum: Matter of Balance Curriculum, Get Moving Kentucky

Input: KY Cooperative Extension Agents, CES publications, Extension Specialist

Dates: Ongoing


Audience: Adults

Project or Activity: Get Fit Fayette County

Content or Curriculum: Various Curriculums

Input, KY Cooperative Extension Agents, public and private health agencies, non-profit organizations

Dates: Ongoing


Audience: Adults

Project or Activity: Kentucky Plate it Up/ Farmer's Market

Content or Curriculum: Plate it Up Curriculum

Input: KY Cooperative Extension Agents, CES publications, KDA, NEP assistants

Dates: Summer, Fall and Spring


Audience:

Project or Activity: Better Bites

Content or Curriculum: Better Bites Curriculum; Social Marketing and Policy Exploratory Pilot Study

Inputs: Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service Agents, Specialists, Volunteers, CES publications; local, state, and federal agencies.

Date: ongoing


Audience: Adults, Teens & Youth

Project or Activity: Phone calls, e-mails, and office visit customer service opportunities

Content or Curriculum: Available resources through CES publications, specialists, and listed curricula

Inputs: Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service Agents, Program Assistants, Specialists, Volunteers, CES publications; local, state, and federal agencies.

Date: On-Going


Audience: Youth

Project or Activity: Lexington Drug Free Projects

Content or Curriculum: Health Rocks, Drug prevention

Inputs 4-H Agents, 4-H Assistants, FCS Agents, LFUCG, Police Department

Dates: ongoing


Audience: Teens & Youth

Project or Activity: Cooking/Food & Nutrition

Content or curriculum: 4-H curriculum; FCS curriculum; Plate It Up recipes

Inputs: 4-H Agents,4-H assistants, volunteers

Date: day camps, after-school programs


Audience: Teens & Youth

Project or Activity: 4-H Cooking Club(s)

Content or curriculum: 4-H foods curriculum; FCS curriculum; Plate It Up recipes

Inputs: 4-H Agent, volunteers

Date: monthly club meetings and as requested


Audience: Adult and Youth

Project or Activity: SNAP-Ed/ Double dollars

Content or Curriculum: NEP curriculum, CES Publications

Inputs: EFNEP and SNAP Ed assistants, County Extension Agents

Date: On-Going


Audience: Community residents

Project or Activity: Growing Community program

Content or Curriculum: ID-128

Inputs: Volunteers, collaborating agencies, LFUCG, County agents

Date: Annually in May



Audience: Fayette county School Students

Project or Activity: Agriculture Education for Fayette County School Students.

Content or Curriculum: Teach Students about Agriculture and show where food comes from.

Inputs: Leaders, Agents, Fayette County Schools, Locust Trace School.

Date: Spring and Fall.


Audience: Community Residents & Businesses

Project: Local Foods Committee & Coordinator

Content & Curriculum: Collaborating Agencies, LFUCG, Agents, Specialist

Date: All Year


Audience: Fayette County Schools Administration and Board

Project: School Health and Wellness Policy

Content & curriculum: Collaborating Agencies, Specialist and CES curriculum

Date: Ongoing

Audience: Senior Adults

Projects: Challenges of Aging, Grandparents Raising Relatives, Next Best Years

Content and Curriculum: Collaborating Agencies, Specialists, and CES curriculum

Date: ongoing

Audience: Adults

Projects: Food and Nutrition

Content: Food for Thought, Food Preservation, Adult Cooking, Champion Food Volunteers

Date: Ongoing

Audience: Community residents

Project or Activity: Master gardener projects related to food production

Content or Curriculum: Publications

Inputs: volunteers, specialists, county agents

Date: Ongoing


Audience: Community residents

Project or Activity: Growing Community program

Content or Curriculum: ID-128

Inputs: Volunteers, collaborating agencies, LFUCG, County agents

Date: Annually in May


Audience: Adults

Project or Activity: Farmer's Market/Plate it Up

Content or Curriculum: Plate it Up, KY Department of Ag

Inputs: Cooperative Extension Agent, specialists, KDA, Lexington Farmer's Market

Date: On-going


Audience: Adults, Teens & Youth

Project or Activity: Phone calls, e-mails, and office visit customer service opportunities

Content or Curriculum: Available resources through CES publications, specialists, and listed curricula

Inputs: Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service Agents, Program Assistants, Specialists, Volunteers, Kentucky CES publications; local, state, and federal agencies.

Date: On-Going

Audience: Adults

Project or Activity: SKY Families Program 

Content or Curriculum: Nurturing Parenting Curriculum

Inputs: Carla Jordan

 Date: 6-week sessions.  Class meets twice per week for 1 hour                 and a half.


Audience: Adults

Project or Activity:  Plate It Up

Content or Curriculum: Plate it Up

 Inputs: EFNEP Assistant

 Date: 5 classes per session




Success Stories

Feeding a Need

Author: Jamie Dockery

Major Program: Local Food Systems

The pandemic has dramatically increased food insecurity in our community. In order to offset some of these impacts we shifted our Extension office demonstration gardens to production mode. We have a small percentage of our Extension Master Gardeners who wanted to volunteer in a safe outdoor capacity. Our gardens became the focus of these efforts. Since mid-March this dedicated group has worked tirelesly to ensure maximum production. They have continually followed harvested crops with successive

Full Story

Cooking Through the Calendar

Author: Diana Doggett

Major Program: Food Preparation and Preservation

Cooking Through the CalendarOne of the outcomes of the 2020-21 pandemic, was the realization that preparing food at home can be easy, healthy, and sometimes necessary.  For many, this concept was either new or not recently practiced.  Seeking a means to address this need, Fayette Extension Family and Consumer Sciences provided fun and interactive, virtual food preparation workshops to assist with how and what to prepare for family meals.  Cooking Through the Calendar occurs monthl

Full Story

Encouraging New Gardeners

Author: Jamie Dockery

Major Program: Horticulture, Consumer and Home

As a result of pandemic related issues and work from home arrangements, many of Lexingtons residents developed an interest in gardening. Subsequent ecomonic conditons have led even more people to delve into food production at home. The Fayette County Extension Office adapted by offering more fruit and vegetable topics to our programming the last two years. We often encourage people to put what they have  learned into practice by providing seeds or plants for them to plant at home afterwards

Full Story

Youth Development

Author: Jamie Dockery

Major Program: Economic Development and Workforce Preparation – 4-H Youth Development

Home schooling has become an increasingly popular option as parents seek alternatives to traditional classroom education. These parents are often excellent educators, but may not be experts in all subjects. Many turn to community programs for the additional education and social interactions they provide. While our 4-H program offers a home school club, we do not always consider the value of our many adult oriented extension classes for young people. One resourceful family found numerous educatio

Full Story

it's Your Reality (Reality Store)

Author: Lucas Powell

Major Program: Family and Consumer Science

Recent years of tough economic times have increased awareness of the need for financial literacy; however, Americans still have a long way to go toward making improvements. In 2014, the Jump$tart Coalition compiled a series of statistics that state that even though youth intend to work and save dollars, more students have increased 36% from the previous years of student and credit card debt. The It's Your Reality Program is designed to teach youth in late middle school to early high school r

Full Story

Young Lives Couponing and Cooking on a Budget Program

Author: Maranda Brooks

Major Program: Cook Together, Eat Together

FCS, EFNEP/SNAP and Food and Nutrition Chair of the Bluegrass Region partnered together to plan, develop and implement a couponing and cooking on a budget for an organization called Young Lives. This organization focuses on young teen mothers here in Fayette County and providing them mentorship, guidance, and life skills as they are navigating motherhood. It was expressed to us by the organization leader, Tanya Lane, that a big priority that the mentors have noticed is a need for class on health

Full Story
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