A Culturally-Adapted Multicomponent Teaching Kitchen Intervention for Low-Income Latino Adults

Lorena S. Pacheco, PhD, MPH, RDN is a nutritional epidemiologist whose overarching career goal is to become a leading researcher studying scalable interventions to prevent cardiometabolic disease in Latinos and populations of other backgrounds. Her proposed work entitled A Culturally-Informed Multicomponent Teaching Kitchen Intervention for Low-Income Latino Adults is timely as there is need for research on culturally-informed multicomponent interventions for communities of multiple heritages. Candidate: Dr. Pacheco is a Yerby postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (HSPH). Her prior work on an innovative cluster randomized trial in Latinos, and research in an underserved Latino community in rural Baja California, Mexico, demonstrates her commitment to developing culturally-sensitive interventions for dietary improvement in communities with limited health access. The proposed plan will build upon her expertise with four training objectives to enable her transition toward independence: 1) Attain knowledge about examining health behaviors and integrative teaching kitchen (TK) curricula; 2) Gain expertise in using mixed-methods approaches for intervention development; 3) Develop proficiency in cultural adaptations of interventions; and 4) Obtain expertise in community-based participatory research for intervention development. Dr. Pacheco’s training plan comprises didactic work/certification, conferences, and workshops, that will support and enrich her skillset. Environment and Mentorship: HSPH has well-established research and training programs in public health, nutrition, and behavioral science, and Boston Medical Center (BMC) is an academic medical center committed to advancing the frontiers of medicine via research. Dr. Pacheco’s proposed career development plan incorporates robust resources available in these two institutions. Additionally, she assembled an excellent multidisciplinary mentoring team, with the commitment, knowledge, and expertise to guide her through her training plan and research activities. Research: The goal of this project is to develop and assess a research and training program involving a TK intervention to improve cardiometabolic health in Latinos by: Aim 1 evaluating the longitudinal associations between distinct dietary behaviors and metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes by Latino heritage; Aim 2 determining the level of at-home readiness and practices, attitudes, preferences, barriers, and solutions regarding components of a TK intervention in low-income Latinos of multiple heritages by using sequential explanatory mixed-methods strategies; and Aim 3 evaluating the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of a culturally-informed multicomponent TK intervention for low-income Latinos of multiple heritages compared to usual care. Summary: This is an innovative proposal as this will be the first project to examine the feasibility of a culturally-informed TK multicomponent intervention for low-income Latinos. This award will provide the research and training required for Dr. Pacheco’s success, and serve as the foundation for a large-scale, TK multi-center trial in Latinos and other populations.