Todd County, KY - Facebook Live Groups

Children in virtual classrooms and parents working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic presented internet challenges to many rural Kentucky areas. In Todd County, approximately 4,000 people out of the 12,000+ population do not have access to internet.   Of the three major towns in Todd County, 36.7% of consumers in Elkton have access to one or fewer wired internet providers and is the 193^rd most connected city in Kentucky; Trenton is 280^th and Guthrie is 188^th.

The Todd County Nutrition Education Program Assistant (NEP) experienced the same struggle while working from home.  When the Todd County Cooperative Extension Office staff returned to working in person, Facebook Live became an option because the office had fiber optic internet.  The NEP Assistant offered two Facebook Live series. Fifteen members joined the group “Todd County Facebook Live” and 16 members joined the “Cooking through the Calendar” group.  The assistant noticed members followed the classes but did not watch live.  Clients mentioned problems with watching the class on their mobile phone or children-using internet for virtual school.  In addition, members were reluctant to fill out surveys on line.  However, members that participated and graduated showed 59% diet quality improvement and 65% improvement in food resource management.  Graduates were excited with the knowledge learned from “Healthy Choices for Everybody” and the recipes that they learned how to make.

Using Facebook Live helped the NEP Assistant share “Healthy Choices for Everybody” curriculum and demonstrate healthy recipes to NEP clientele.  The assistant had positive feedback from class participants and looks forward to reaching more clients as Kentucky broadens broadband access across the state.