An Albuquerque Mom
“One Albuquerque mother, already capable of handling multiple sport schedules and a full-time job as a teacher, reached out to SNAP-Ed to see how else she could improve her family’s well-being. She was keen to shake her habit of picking up fast food when her evening time was scarce. SNAP-Ed responded with the Create Better Health curriculum, which teaches fast meal creation.
Because of the participant’s busy schedule, SNAP-Ed needed to meet her and her family online via Zoom, cutting out travel time. This necessitated adaptation of the curriculum to the setting. For workouts, the educator relied on yoga and dance exercises. She also asked the participant to pick her favorite exercises towards the end of the series—the participant always chose dance!
Other adjustments included sending the materials for each class one week ahead of time. The participant and her family always came to class prepared to cook alongside the SNAP-Ed educator.
When the SNAP-Ed educator presented a breakfast parfait recipe, the participant was skeptical since her family did not eat much yogurt. She also mentioned that one of her sons simply did not eat breakfast because it was “too early”. The educator worked with her on sampling and experimenting with yogurt-based dishes, and yogurt is now a staple of the participant’s family breakfast.
SNAP-Ed changed a family’s life and helped a mother tackle her daily demands with new energy and creativity. All it took was a little adaptation to ensure the program can meet participants wherever they are.“