According to the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps for 2019, Kenton County recorded 324 deaths by drug overdose between 2015 & 2017.  One area people often neglect when they are engaged in substance use disorders is nutrition.  The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant from the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service was invited to teach classes at the Healthy Newborn House, which is a part of Transitions, Inc.  Transitions is a Behavioral Health Service Organization whose overall objective is to provide a jumpstart on an individual’s life in recovery.  Healthy Newborn House is a transitional sober living home where programming is provided on site.  Some of the residents of Healthy Newborn House are pregnant, while some are not but the thing that they all do have in common is that they are women in recovery from substance use disorders.

The NEP Assistant used the Healthy Choices for Every Body curriculum to teach eight women the importance of planning their meals in advance to save money at the grocery store; how to budget their food and other expenses; how to prepare budget-friendly, nutritious meals; and how to purchase, prepare, and store food safely.  At each session of the 7-lesson series, the NEP Assistant coached the women through preparing a healthy recipe, which they later got to sample.   She opened the lesson with an icebreaker (a fun game) to engage the women in the topic for the day and presented the lesson to the residents.  Throughout the lessons, the women participated in several hands-on activities like planning a menu for a day, learning to read a food label, and learning how to use a food thermometer properly. After each session, the residents received a free kitchen utensil, such as a flexible cutting mat, mixing bowl, insulated grocery bag, or meat thermometer to reinforce the lesson learned for the day.

The women started incorporating what they were learning in class into every day practices.  According to the nationally recognized web-based reporting system (WebNEERS), at the end of the series, 50% were cooking dinner at home more frequently; 63% were planning their meals before shopping, while 50% were comparing food prices more often.  Food Safety was an important component of the sessions in this series.  Eight people participated in these sessions and all 8 reported learning a new food safety technique—one of which was not thawing meat at room temperature.  All 8 participants had improved in this area. According to data from a University of Kentucky Food and Nutrition Specialist, every person who receives education regarding some aspect of food borne illness prevention, saves their state an estimated $1,000.  Potential savings to Kentucky citizens, businesses, and government due to the food safety education included in this Healthy Choices for Every Body series is $8,000.

Not only did the women appreciate the knowledge they gained, the food they got to sample, and the reinforcements they received, but they were also very proud of the certificate they earned by completing the course.  One participant said, “I will show this to my counselor.  This may help me to regain custody of my children.   Thank you for all that you have taught me.”   A new series recently started at Healthy Newborn House with “Healthy at Work” guidelines in place.