The Outcomes of the Community Cooking Workshops for International Students at Simon Fraser University

Authors

  • Gabriella Luongo Simon Fraser University, Canada
  • Rochelle Tucker Simon Fraser University, Canada
  • Crystal Hutchinson Simon Fraser University, Canada
  • Rosie Dhaliwal Simon Fraser University, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v8i4.218

Keywords:

cooking, attitudes practice, health promotion, mental health, students

Abstract

The Community Cooking Workshops (CCWs) are free, bi-weekly, hands-on, cooking and nutrition education workshops for international students facilitated by the Simon Fraser University (SFU) Peer Health Educators (PHEs). The impacts of the CCWs on international student nutrition knowledge, behavior change, and social outcomes were examined. Data was collected and coded from five Spring 2016 CCWs through workshop evaluation forms (n=87, 93% response rate) and nine semi-structured interviews with international student participants. Participants reported changes in eating behavior and knowledge (all food should be consumed in moderation, with variety) and improved sense of community. Future research should assess the long-term impacts of cooking workshops in postsecondary institutions on diet quality, cooking skills, social connectedness, and international student wellbeing

Author Biographies

  • Gabriella Luongo, Simon Fraser University, Canada

    GABRIELLA LUONGO, is a Master’s of Public Health (Health Promotion) candidate at the University of Toronto. She received her BSc (Hons) in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University where she was a Peer Health Educator and lead facilitator of the Community Cooking Workshops from 2014-2016. Her major research interests lie in food policy, nutrition program implementation and evaluation, and understanding how post-secondary institutions can be used as a setting for health promotion. 

  • Rochelle Tucker, Simon Fraser University, Canada

    ROCHELLE TUCKER, DSc, is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Health Sciences at SFU. Her major research interests lie in research methodology, mental health and adolescent development. Part of Dr. Tucker’s research is focused on understanding gender, ethnic and socio-economic disparities in adolescent mental health, and the relationships between mental health and other health issues such as nutrition, and obesity in adolescence. She is currently working on integrating an online formative teaching inquiry tool to enhance students' learning and instructors' teaching. 

  • Crystal Hutchinson, Simon Fraser University, Canada

    CRYSTAL HUTCHINSON, MEd, CHES, is a Workplace Wellbeing Strategist at the University of British Columbia where she is leading strategic and comprehensive University-wide workplace health promotion actions and initiatives in partnership with faculties, departments and administrative units. In her previous role as Health Promotion Specialist at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Crystal worked to advance the Healthy Campus Community initiative. Her work at SFU included the supervision and evaluation of the Peer Health Education program from
    2013-2017.

  • Rosie Dhaliwal, Simon Fraser University, Canada

    ROSIE DHALIWAL, MEd, RD, is the Acting Associate Director, Health Promotion at SFU Health and Counselling Services. She has diverse experiences in nutrition and dietetics including roles as a Clinical Dietitian and Nutrition Consultant in the community, also Distance Education Supervisor and Sessional Instructor at SFU. She has dedicated her clinical and educational expertise to the Health Promotion team at SFU since 2007 where she trains and mentors the Peer Health Educators and leads the award winning Healthy Campus Community initiative. 

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Published

2018-10-01

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 4 (2018)

Section

Research Articles (English)

License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

All published articles are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 Unported License.

How to Cite

The Outcomes of the Community Cooking Workshops for International Students at Simon Fraser University. (2018). Journal of International Students, 8(4), 1549–1568. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v8i4.218