- Email: [email protected]
Telephone nutrition course
GEM NO. 4 0
Telephone Nutrition Course Dianne S. Lennon, Cooperative Extension Service, Cook College, RutgersThe State University ofNew Jersey, 1200 Ui'st Harding Highway, Mays Landing, New Jersey 08330 To provide a cost-efficient method of teaching nutrition and food buying to lowincome homemakers, we developed and evaluated a telephone nutrition course entitled "T-Phone" (see Note). Our primary target audience was low-income homemakers who live in isolated areas - outside Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) locations-and work outside the home. We advertised the course by including course registration cards (printed on business-reply postcards) in a food stamp check mailing, and by providing placards and registration cards at various human service centers. Of the sixty homemakers initially enrolled in the course, forty had registered using the postcards they had received with their food stamp checks. As soon as we received a registration postcard with the client's name, address, and phone number, we phoned the client to introduce the program and give the pretest. Then we mailed the first of five basic nutrition lessons. After the homemaker had an opportunity to study the lesson, a nutrition aide called to answer questions, teach additional nutrition information, and record answers to a brief questionnaire on the lesson's content. We have found that the telephone follow-up (as a gentle reminder to the homemaker to study the lessons) is essential. Participant response to the course has been positive; this method of instruction
Nutrition aide teaching a lesson allows clients to work at their own pace and at their convenience. Graduates are proud to receive certificates for completing a course in basic nutrition. To date, forty students have completed the five basic nutrition lessons - Super-marketing, Protein, Energy Givers, Vitamins, and Calcium and Iron - with an average thirty-four point increase from pretest to posttest. Administration of the course has been cost efficient. Since the maximum "TPhone" visit is only thirty minutes, with a modest preparation time, aides can reach many more clients than they could by home visits.
Perhaps more important, we are reaching low-income homemakers who would otherwise receive no nutrition education. And because this program is convenient to the homemaker, we are able to reach clients who have the "excuse" syndromeno transportation, too far, no child care, too cold/too hot, afraid, nothing to wear, no money, etc. We believe that teaching nutrition via telephone can have wide applicability beyond basic nutrition concepts. With imagination and creativity, telephone teaching can reach many individuals with a variety of topics.
Acknowledgment Many thanks to Vincent Abbatiello, photo communications coordinator, Cook College, for photographs to tell the T-Phone story.
Note Further information about the course is available from the author.
Nutrition aide (left) interacting with homemaker (right) JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION I7:56A, 1985
Telephone Nutrition Course Dianne S. Lennon, Cooperative Extension Service, Cook College, RutgersThe State University ofNew Jersey, 1200 Ui'st Harding Highway, Mays Landing, New Jersey 08330 To provide a cost-efficient method of teaching nutrition and food buying to lowincome homemakers, we developed and evaluated a telephone nutrition course entitled "T-Phone" (see Note). Our primary target audience was low-income homemakers who live in isolated areas - outside Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) locations-and work outside the home. We advertised the course by including course registration cards (printed on business-reply postcards) in a food stamp check mailing, and by providing placards and registration cards at various human service centers. Of the sixty homemakers initially enrolled in the course, forty had registered using the postcards they had received with their food stamp checks. As soon as we received a registration postcard with the client's name, address, and phone number, we phoned the client to introduce the program and give the pretest. Then we mailed the first of five basic nutrition lessons. After the homemaker had an opportunity to study the lesson, a nutrition aide called to answer questions, teach additional nutrition information, and record answers to a brief questionnaire on the lesson's content. We have found that the telephone follow-up (as a gentle reminder to the homemaker to study the lessons) is essential. Participant response to the course has been positive; this method of instruction
Nutrition aide teaching a lesson allows clients to work at their own pace and at their convenience. Graduates are proud to receive certificates for completing a course in basic nutrition. To date, forty students have completed the five basic nutrition lessons - Super-marketing, Protein, Energy Givers, Vitamins, and Calcium and Iron - with an average thirty-four point increase from pretest to posttest. Administration of the course has been cost efficient. Since the maximum "TPhone" visit is only thirty minutes, with a modest preparation time, aides can reach many more clients than they could by home visits.
Perhaps more important, we are reaching low-income homemakers who would otherwise receive no nutrition education. And because this program is convenient to the homemaker, we are able to reach clients who have the "excuse" syndromeno transportation, too far, no child care, too cold/too hot, afraid, nothing to wear, no money, etc. We believe that teaching nutrition via telephone can have wide applicability beyond basic nutrition concepts. With imagination and creativity, telephone teaching can reach many individuals with a variety of topics.
Acknowledgment Many thanks to Vincent Abbatiello, photo communications coordinator, Cook College, for photographs to tell the T-Phone story.
Note Further information about the course is available from the author.
Nutrition aide (left) interacting with homemaker (right) JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCATION I7:56A, 1985