ICook 4-H: Using Mapping of Community Capitals Following a 2-Year iCook Program

Abstract

To evaluate participants’ perceived ripple effect of a 2 year iCook 4-H multistate intervention program on individual, family and their community with youth (Y) and adult (A) pairs (dyads). Treatment participants, n=70 (34% of total sample); (35 A, 35 Y, ages 11-12 years) participated across 5 states (ME, NE, SD, TN, WV) in 10 groups. Ripple Effect Mapping (REM) evaluation tool was used to elicit reflections from impact of program on 7 Community Capitals Framework (CCF) (human, social, cultural, built, financial, natural, political). Three main themes, cooking, eating and playing together were evaluated after a 24-month childhood obestity intervention. Group dyads responded to leader driven dialogue about ways iCook affected individual, family and/or community through open-ended questions: what are people doing differently as a result of iCook; who has benefited and how are there changes in the way community groups and institutions do things as a result of iCook? Dialogues were recorded and evaluated thematically using grounded theory. Dyads reported adopting new behaviors such as an increase in physical activity, increased frequency of trying new foods and improved communication skills as well as increased harmony within family units identifying capitals such as human, social and natural predominately. Positive family behavior change affected all capitals of the CCF which resulting in amplified participants’ awareness of the importance of connecting within dyad; building new relationships, some of which formed during community volunteering. Findings support the need for youth obesity prevention programs, such as iCook, that positively intersect and affect self, families and communities.