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Assisting dietary change in low income communities: assessing the impact of community-based practical food skills intervention (Cook Well Intervention)

Project Code: N09011

30/06/2002

Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, Division of Clinical & Population Sciences & Education, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY
Barton, K ;
School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, Robert Gordon University, St Andrew Street, Aberdeen, AB25 1HG
Wrieden, W;
Centre for Public Health Nutrition Research, Division of Clinical & Population Sciences & Education, University of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY
Anderson, A

The CookWell programme was developed by the University of Dundee as a transferable, community-based food skills (cookery) programme aimed at increasing consumption of starchy foods, fish, vegetables and fruit, and decreasing consumption of fat in adults living in areas of deprivation. Although the impact of the programme was extensively assessed by researchers there is no single, evaluation tool which is available for self completion by participants in the community setting.

Aim and Objectives

To undertake an assessment of validity and reliability of a short questionnaire designed to measure the impact of cooking skills interventions on cooking confidence, knowledge and attitudes (about food preparation, recommended fruit and vegetable consumption and food safety) and food choice.

The specific objectives were:

1. Reliability testing - to assess the internal reliability and repeatability of the instrument
2. Validity testing - to assess content and face validity of the instrument
3. Overall - to apply and test modifications (as required) in a draft instrument within a community project undertaking the CookWell programme
4. Produce a draft validated instrument for use in local communities.

Methodology

A working draft of the questionnaire was compiled and checked for content, clarity and layout. Validity of the content of the questionnaire was assessed by a panel of independent public health nutritionists and community development workers. Face validity (ensuring the questions are interpreted as intended) was assessed by a group of adults typical of those who may attend cooking skills classes. Amendments were made where necessary during each stage of the validity process. Repeat reliability (indicates consistency of the tool over time) was assessed with adults attending community based classes (other than cooking). Individuals were asked to complete the questionnaire twice, one week apart, correlation analysis was carried out and Cronbach’s Alphas were computed to assess repeat reliability and internal consistency. The feasibility of the finalised questionnaire (as a tool for evaluating cooking skills programmes) was assessed in the community setting to evaluate the first year of the West Lothian 3 year “Get Cooking” project.

Main Findings

Content Validity – 16 public health nutritionists and 12 community development workers responded to the request for comments on the working draft of the questionnaire and appropriate changes were made to the questionnaire to improve content and clarity.

Face Validity – 20 adults completed the questionnaire and were interviewed with regard to their understanding of the questionnaire. Typical completion time was 5-10 minutes; however this was occasionally longer where reading skills were poor. No individual reported problems with questions or words that they did not understand. The short completion time indicates that the questionnaire can be administered by a community worker if literacy problems exist.

Reliability Testing – 74 adults completed the questionnaire at time one and 57 at time 2. Cronbach’s alphas for confidence and knowledge sections were 0.86 and 0.84 respectively showing good internal consistency. Correlation between time 1 and time 2 was significant to P<0.01 for all questions with correlation coefficients ranging from 0.46 to 0.91.

Feasibility Testing – 13 adults completed the questionnaire at time 1 and 11 at time 2. No assistance was requested by individuals when filling in the questionnaire, but a few questions were not fully completed. It was noted that more detailed instruction for the class tutor would improve the completion rate for the individual questions. More guidance also needs to be given to matching subject identification numbers on the questionnaires pre- and post-intervention.

The final questionnaire comprised 19 questions within 5 topic sections: meal preparation; confidence in cooking and tasting; usual food consumption patterns; knowledge about fruits and vegetables; and knowledge of good practice (of food safety measures). In addition questions on socio-demographic characteristics were included. The post-intervention questionnaire also included qualitative questions on likes, dislikes and suggestions about the cooking intervention. This tool provides a standardised method of evaluating cooking skills interventions which could assist in the development and evaluation of multi-centre cooking interventions.

Final report

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