LB124 - COOKING TOGETHER PILOT STUDY: PRELIMINARY EFFICACY FINDINGS

LB124

COOKING TOGETHER PILOT STUDY: PRELIMINARY EFFICACY FINDINGS

H. Keller^1,*, K. Devlin¹, L. Middleton¹, K. Dupuis²

¹Kinesiology & Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ²Center for Elder Research, Sheridan College, Oakville, Canada

Rationale: People living with dementia commonly experience stigma related to their changing abilities and capacity to participate in meaningful activities. Cooking abilities can be impacted by cognitive changes, resulting in changes in cooking. Youth (18-30 years of age) are at a prime time in their career and personal development to influence their attitudes and behaviours. An intergenerational program that provides the opportunity for people living with dementia and youth to cook and eat meals together could help decrease stigma and improve well-being.

Methods: Cooking Together is a culinary program that pairs youth and people living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) who live in the community to prepare and consume a meal together on a weekly basis. The Cooking Together pilot occurred as three cohorts over a one-year period. A maximum of five youth and five persons with dementia/MCI participated in each cohort. Two cohorts were 8 weeks in length and the third 6 weeks. Participants were led by a chef and assisted by a kitchen helper to prepare three dishes based on the Brain Health Food Guide. The chef demonstrated key skills, reviewed the recipes with participants, and assisted as needed during the session. Participants chose the recipe they wished to work on, thus pairing of youth and people with dementia/MCI varied each week. After food preparation, the participants and program leads sat together to enjoy the meal. Nutrition information was shared with the recipe, identifying key ingredients and their importance for brain health. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to evaluate the program. For this analysis, youth completed the Allophilia in Dementia (16 items) and Dementia Attitudes measures (introduced after cohort 1; modified to include only 6 pertinent items) pre and post program. The Herth Hope Index (12 items) was completed pre and post program by people living with dementia/MCI. The Canterbury Wellbeing Scales (individual items scored 0-100) were completed by all participants pre and post the first, mid-way (third/forth session) and last session. Paired t-test was used to determine changes pre and post program for the Allophilia, Dementia Attitudes and Herth Hope Index and Wilcoxon signed rank test used to determine change in eight individual feelings (e.g. Happy/Sad, Frustrated/Not) for the Canterbury Wellbeing Scales and a composite score based on 5 of these well-being items. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.

Results: Twelve youth (1 non-binary, 1 gender not stated, remainder women; 79% between 18 -20 years) and 11 people living with dementia/MCI (4 men; 54% 76+ years of age) completed both pre and post evaluations of the program. The mean Allophilia in Dementia scale pre program was 82.08 (SD 8.98) and post program was 91.58 (SD 4.01), a statistically significant difference (t=4.6 p=0.0007). Similarly, the Dementia Attitudes scale (completed by n=9) based on six summed items was significantly different pre and post the program (32.56 +/-2.35 vs. 34.89 +/- 2.21 respectively; t= 3.2 p=0.01). The Herth Hope Index did not change for the people living with dementia/MCI (pre mean=38.18 +/- 5, post mean 39.18 +/- 4.14, t= 1.24 p=0.25). Six of the eight individual Canterbury Wellbeing Scales and the composite score were statistically significantly improved between pre and post the first session, two individual and the composite score were improved after the mid-way point, and five individual and the composite were improved pre and post the final session (n=21 completed). Of note, confidence (pre session 1 mean 79.31, pre session 8 mean 84.1), optimism (pre session 1 mean 84.4, pre session 8 mean 88.7) and feelings of connection (pre session 1 mean 72.3, pre session 8 mean 87.0) ratings pre-session improved over the program, while nervousness ratings decreased (pre session 1 mean 38.4, pre session 8 mean 20.7). 

Conclusion: The Cooking Together pilot demonstrated improvements in youth stigma and feelings of wellbeing for all participants. These preliminary results suggest that the program can benefit youth and people with dementia/MCI. Further analyses will include food skills, engagement during sessions for people with dementia/MCI and qualitative interviews with participants and caregivers. 

Disclosure of Interest: None declared