Success StoryMartin County Drug Court – Learning Through Doing
Martin County Drug Court – Learning Through Doing
Author: Robin Thompson
Planning Unit: Martin County CES
Major Program: Accessing Nutritious Foods (general)
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
According to KyHealthFacts.org, approximately 3,889 drug arrests were made in Martin County in 2017 compared to 2,301 being the Kentucky state average. A significant number of these individuals will become a part of the Martin County Drug Court. According to the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, about 69 individuals per month enter the Drug Court Program in Martin County. Majority of these participants are beneficiaries of the Supplemental Nutrition Program, WIC, or both to receive funding for food each month for themselves and/or their families. Many participants expressed that they were not comfortable grocery shopping in regard to purchasing healthy options or how to stay within their allotted budget for the month.
To address the issue, The Supplemental Nutrition Education Program offered a 7-part curriculum called Healthy Choices For Every Body to 6 males and 4 females. This curriculum is designed to teach hands-on, nutrition education focused on buying and preparing healthy foods, developing cooking skills, food safety, managing SNAP resources and the importance of physical activity.
As a result of this program, 100% of participants showed improvement in diet quality, physical activity behaviors, food safety practices and food resource management practices. With hands on food demonstrations, participants learned new skills to use with their families, such as how to properly hold a knife. In addition, two participants stated they now buy ground turkey for recipes instead of ground beef on occasion for variety and to decrease their fat consumption.
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