Building Community and Life Skills in the Kitchen: A Partnership With Special Olympics Missouri and Undergraduate Students.

This study provides insights from a partnership between Special Olympics of Missouri and a Midwestern university during a teaching kitchen experience conducted in spring 2021. This 5-week teaching kitchen used evidence-based practices for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to teach culinary skills and nutrition science led by community health students. The 12 participants and their caregivers participated in five virtual 1-hour-long lessons. Data collection included surveys and participant observations. Three themes emerged from the coded survey responses and observations: activity type, "doing," gaining nutrition and culinary confidence, and sustainable home meal planning strategies. Implications for practice include hands-on virtual options, providing culinary-focused themes with supporting nutritional information, and caregiver support opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]