Abstract
There are limited treatment options available upon diagnosis of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness in older people, which progressively threatens central vision and quality of life. Community engagement has the potential to support 'positive health' of individuals with untreatable eye conditions. Eating for Eye Health is an award-winning public-engagement project that aims to raise awareness of research suggesting that nutrition might help protect against progression of AMD and to encourage patients to cook and eat antioxidant-rich food in a community environment. The project engaged patients who had a diagnosis of dry AMD through a focus group and a community cookery day organized in partnership with the healthy food outlet, Pod, and the Manor Gardens Community Kitchen Project, Islington, London. A focus group highlighted participants' potential barriers to engagement with research about lifestyle modification and identified that a co-designed community cookery project could help to address unmet needs for support. Individuals with dry AMD reported increased levels of confidence in cooking skills after participating in the community cookery day. The combination of these methods within the context of AMD highlights how a focus on patient needs and expectations can establish and grow mutually beneficial relationships. There is potential for Eating for Eye Health, or similar community kitchen approaches, to be implemented within the community setting through NHS 'social prescribing' initiatives. In conclusion, Eating for Eye Health is unique in its combination of elements of community consultative and collaborative forms of engagement. These methods could be adopted as part of Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) in local health policy development in the community.
Highlights
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease caused in older people by a deterioration of the cells within the central ‘macula’ area of the retina
We found out that Siobhan had been managing an NHS-funded project to support nutritional intake and cooking skills of older people in the local council sheltered housing, but that due to budget constraints, the funding for the project was to be discontinued in order to focus on mental health initiatives in the borough
Recipes from the ‘tried and tested’ Manor Gardens Community Kitchen Project portfolio were selected by the project team according to their nutritional content and perceived appearance and taste for our target audience, in combination with specific requests put forward by the focus group, for example, ‘ideas for cooking with oily fish’
Summary
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease caused in older people by a deterioration of the cells within the central ‘macula’ area of the retina. Recipes from the ‘tried and tested’ Manor Gardens Community Kitchen Project portfolio were selected by the project team according to their nutritional content and perceived appearance and taste for our target audience, in combination with specific requests put forward by the focus group, for example, ‘ideas for cooking with oily fish’ These recipes were further adapted to enhance their nutritional content and absorption to benefit dry AMD, based on existing clinical evidence and the advice of a clinical research nutrition consultant from the Faculty of Food and Nutrition Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal (who was undertaking concurrent dietetic support work at Barts and the London NHS Trust). This project is further evidence of the importance of flexibly using engagement approaches, and the strong potential to work across a myriad of modes to put the patient voice at the centre of research
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