Healthy Families
Family Health and Wellness
Dora Centers, Chad Conway, and Lorie Adams
Nutrition and Food Systems General
Local Food Systems
Health
Active Living and Health Promotions General
With the unemployment rate in the county on the rise, community leaders through surveys, council meetings, and one-to-one face meetings have directed Extension programming to focus on areas dealing with the health and well-being of families. Children, who start kindergarten with delayed development and fewer assets, are far more likely to repeat grades, get tracked into lower-tier classes, and drop out of high school. 27.5% of children live in poverty. Knott County’s population of seniors is 13.4%, a number that is expected to increase due to aging baby boomers. Nutrition Education programs help families gain access to food and stretch food dollars. Due to the increasing trend of chronic disease and obesity in Kentucky, individuals, families, and communities need tools and environments that support healthful dietary decisions. Knott County ranks 117 out of 120 KY counties for poor health. Obesity and chronic diseases in Knott county were highlighted as a need in the 2019 needs assessment.
- Knott County families are able to:
- Care for the physical, mental health, and well-being of each individual over the long term
- Foster the optimal development of children and youth
- Practice parental leadership skills
- Embrace people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds
- Access community resources when needed
- Decrease the number of individuals with chronic disease
- Decrease obesity
- Access to local foods in our community throughout the year
- Practice healthy food choices and food preparation
- Practice physical activity
- Access community agencies and resources when needed
- Plant, harvest and preserve produce
- Change behavior to reduce risk of falling
- Improve mental health
- Healthy aging
- Access to fresh produce at the local farmers market
- Intend to practice healthy lifestyle choices
- Intend to manage stress, self-care, improve communication skills
- Learn to grow, prepare and preserve food
- Increase knowledge and understanding of healthy eating, food safety, and food resource management
- Increase healthy lifespan behaviors
- Understand age-related issues
- Practice daily physical activity
- Gaining knowledge and access to the local farmers market
Observation and the use of pre and post-test results
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: God's Pantry Produce Drop
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum
Inputs: Agents, Alice Lloyd College Workstudy, Ky River Health Department, God's Pantry
Date: Monthly
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Drop it Like It's Hot
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum
Inputs: FCS Agent
Date: Monthly
Audience: AdultsProject or Activity: Self Care & Self Pampering
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum
Inputs: Agents
Date: March
Audience: Adults/Youth
Project or Activity: Knott County Farmers Market
Content or Curriculum: Extension Agents, Farmers Market Committee, FFA, Community Partners, and KDA, Plate it Up: KY Proud Curriculum
Inputs: KDA, Hindman Settlement School, Extension Service Agents, SNAP Assistants
Date: March-October
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Healthy Outdoor Cooking
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum/NEP
Inputs: Agents
Date: April
Audience: Adults affected by flooding
Project or Activity: Canning After a Disaster
Content or Curriculum: UK Food Preservation Publications
Inputs: Agents, Local church, Donated canning supplies
Date: July
Audience: Recovery Center Residents
Project or Activity: Recovery Garden (Mental Health)
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Publications
Inputs: Agents, Garden, Creekside Recovery Center, NEP Recovery Garden Grant
Date: July/August
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Cook the Calendar
Content or Curriculum: NEP Calendar, NEP Calendar Curriculum
Inputs: FCS Agent, SNAP Assistants
Date: Monthly
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Dining with Diabetes
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum
Inputs: FCS Agents/Specialists
Date: July/August
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Bingocize
Content or Curriculum: WKU Bingocize Curriculum
Inputs: FCS Agent
Date: August/September
Audience: Creekside Recovery Center
Project or Activity: Recovery Garden (Food Preservation)
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Food Preservation Publications
Inputs: Agents, Recovery Center, Garden Produce, NEP Recovery Garden Grant
Date: August
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Navigating Trauma After a National Disaster and Building and Disaster Emergency Kit
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum
Inputs: FCS Agent, Agent at large for Disaster Recovery
Date: August
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Cook Together, Eat Together
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum
Inputs: FCS Agent
Date: February/March
Audience: AdultsProject or Activity: Savor the Flavor
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum
Inputs: Agents
Date: September
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: KEHA Plays Pickleball
Content or Curriculum: UK Extension Curriculum
Inputs: Agents
Date: October
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Planning Thrifty and Healthy Holiday Meals
Content or Curriculum: UK Curriculum
Inputs: Agents
Date: December
Audience: Preschool Youth
Project or Activity: LEAP
Content or Curriculum: LEAP Curriculum
Inputs: FCS Agent
Date: Monthly during the school year
Author: Lorie Adams
Major Program: Food Preparation and Preservation
September 26-27, 2023 Pumpkin Days was held at the Robinson Center for Appalachian Resource Sustainability. Youth in Preschool, HeadStart, Kindergarten and 1st Grades attended from multiple different counties where they rotated through educational stations, played games, learned about being kind, experienced a petting zoo, took a hayride to the pumpkin patch and were able to select their own pumpkin to take home. Different SNAP approved pumpkin recipes were made by numerous different SNAP-Ed Ass
Author: Lorie Adams
Major Program: Flood Relief & Recovery
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s September 2023 report on the historic Eastern Kentucky flooding of July 2022, over 8,900 households were affected or completely lost during that natural disaster event. Of those households, 74% were within the highest affected area of Breathitt, Perry, Knott, and Letcher counties. Families lost homes, vehicles, and stored food supplies, exacerbating a regional, high food-insecurity rate. Because flood recovery effo