Target Behavior: Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time

Stanford Youth Diabetes Coaching Program

The Stanford Youth Diabetes Coaches Program (SYDCP) facilitates partnerships between medical training programs and high schools serving youth from socioeconomically disadvantaged and underrepresented minority communities. The SYDCP is a “train the trainer program” in which medical residents (and other health professional trainees) train high school students to coach family members with diabetes or other chronic illnesses. The program consists of 8 tightly scripted, interactive PowerPoint based lessons that incorporate evidence-based approaches to chronic disease management, highlighting healthy eating and physical activity. The curriculum is based on Kate Lorig’s Adult Chronic Disease Self-Management Model, Social Cognitive Theory, and peer health coaching, and is designed to address the burden of chronic disease in underserved communities by focusing on health knowledge, communication skills, goal setting, problem solving, and healthy behaviors. 

Please Note: Medical nutrition therapy is not allowable for SNAP-Ed. We strongly recommend you partner with a healthcare professional to provide those components of this intervention. Components focused on healthy eating and physical activity are appropriate for SNAP-Ed. 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reduced Screen Time 

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Chronic Disease Self-Management Program

The Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) is a direct education intervention that helps individuals and caregivers of those with chronic health conditions build a “toolbox” of strategies they can utilize to help achieve their health goals. Workshops are for adults and are highly participatory and build mutual support. Workshop topics include techniques to deal with symptoms of chronic conditions, such as fatigue, pain, sleeplessness, shortness of breath, stress, and emotional problems, such as depression, anger, fear, and frustration. Participants will learn appropriate exercise for maintaining and improving strength and endurance, falls prevention, healthy eating, better breathing techniques, appropriate use of medication, working more effectively with health care providers, communication skills, action planning, problem solving, and decision making. Through actively achieving small goals, participants obtain success which builds confidence in their ability to manage their health and maintain active, fulfilling lives. 

Please Note: Medical nutrition therapy is not allowable for SNAP-Ed. We strongly recommend you partner with a healthcare professional to provide those components of this intervention. Components focused on healthy eating and physical activity are appropriate for SNAP-Ed. 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reduced Screen Time 

Intervention Type: Direct Education 

Turtle Island Tales Family Wellness Program

The Turtle Island Tales family wellness program is a home-based, family-level, direct education intervention designed to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, decrease added sugar intake, increase physical activity, decrease sedentary/screen time, promote healthy sleep, and promote emotional regulation, providing low-income, SNAP-eligible American Indian (AI) families with skills and tools needed to make healthy lifestyle choices. The year-long 12 lesson program is designed to be mailed into the home monthly as a kit focused on a particular topic each month. Each kit contains themed printed lessons for adults, a children’s book on the topic, support items, and multiple activities for adults and children (3-8 years). Each lesson is designed for use in the home by families for approximately 1-2 hours each month; additional games and recipes in the kit and online encourage engagement throughout the month. The program is reinforced by social media (Instagram/Facebook) and a website that contains healthy recipes, active games, tips for wellness, and short character-based films, and complements and reinforces existing policy, systems, and environmental change interventions in Native communities, such as community gardens, traditional activities, and tribal wellness programs. 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reduced Screen Time, Other: Sleep, emotional regulation 

Intervention Type: Direct Education 

A Taste of African Heritage

A Taste of African Heritage (ATOAH) is a direct education cooking and nutrition curriculum designed to increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and spices and reduce salt; improve cooking skills and nutritional literacy; reduce diet-related health disparities in the African American community using heritage as a motivator for health; and reframe nutrition and culinary education in a way that is culturally relevant to participants and honors African American’s culture, traditions, and contributions. African Americans are too often told that the foods they grew up eating are unhealthy and that poor health is a part of their heritage. A Taste of African Heritage (ATOAH) flips the script by celebrating the culinary legacy and often-unsung cultural ownership of healthy eating for people of African descent. Consisting of six 2-hour sessions which feature healthy foods (like leafy greens, whole grains, and beans) from across the African diaspora, the accessible six-session format can be easily scaled into existing community health infrastructure, yet it is immersive enough to produce meaningful results. 

Please Note: If using this curriculum with SNAP-Ed audiences, MyPlate must also be introduced and discussed along with the curriculum.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating 

Intervention Type: Direct Education

PowerUp Your School

PowerUp Your School (PowerUp) is an evidence-based physical activity program aligned with academic standards and social-emotional learning skills. As a direct education program, PowerUp helps youth meet national physical activity guidelines by engaging K-8th grade participants in 30 minutes of physical activity, a minimum of two times per week, in before and after school settings. Every PowerUp lesson is aligned with national Math and English Language Arts academic standards to engage students in active learning. Designed to minimize barriers to physical activity, PowerUp does not require any equipment and can be successfully implemented in a variety of spaces including gymnasiums, cafeterias, classrooms, hallways, common spaces, or outdoors. 

Target Behavior: Physical Activity and Reduced Screen Time 

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Telephonic Health Coaching Intervention (THC) Toolkit

The Telephonic Health Coaching Intervention (THC) Toolkit is a direct education intervention designed to:

  • Increase frequency of eating all five food groups
  • Increase frequency of eating a variety of fruits and vegetables
  • Increase whole fruit consumption by at least half a cup per day
  • Increase vegetable consumption by at least half a cup per day
  • Increase frequency of intake of fat-free or low-fat dairy including (dairy/nondairy) and yogurt, and decrease frequency of intake of full fat dairy (milk/yogurt)
  • Increase frequency of whole grains and decrease consumption of refined grains
  • Increase frequency of lean proteins and decrease frequency of high fat proteins
  • Decrease sugar-sweetened beverage intake
  • Increase frequency of low sodium foods
  • Increase minutes of daily physical activity

In order to achieve these goals, the THC intervention provides material to train SNAP-Ed educators to be health coaches that engage with clients by telephone and use behavior change techniques to craft individual goals related to healthy eating and physical activity. The increased intensity, duration and personalization of the THC intervention improve the likelihood that persons eligible for SNAP will make healthy food choices and choose physically active lifestyles consistent with the current USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time

Intervention Type: Direct Education

Text2LiveHealthy

The Text2LiveHealthy (T2LH) intervention is a direct education and social marketing intervention designed to increase family consumption of fruits and vegetables, increase physical activity among the entire family, and increase family consumption of water while decreasing consumption of sugary beverages. T2LH is a nutrition and physical activity digital health outreach effort that links the Integrated Nutrition Education Program (INEP) and Culture of Wellness in Preschools (COWP) youth education provided in classrooms to homes via text messaging, in order to influence behavior change for economically disadvantaged families across Colorado. There are four text message cycles in Year 1 with each cycle containing approximately 30 core texts that address the following themes: fruit and vegetable consumption, physical activity and sedentary behaviors, sugar-sweetened beverages, and water consumption. Each cycle contains approximately seven to eight core messages and two to three evaluation messages. In general, the messages are easy to use and include goal-setting for healthy behavior change, fun and easy recipes, family-friendly physical activity ideas, motivational messages, and links to resources. In Year 2, participants receive one text per week with a focus on maintaining behavior changes. In Year 3, participants receive weekly messages that focus on mindful eating, stress reduction and living an active lifestyle. In addition to the intervention messages, participants receive thematic messages based on the time of year as well as local messages for resources, for example farmer’s markets and Double Up Food Bucks and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP). 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Food Insecurity/Food Assistance  
Intervention Type: Direct Education, Social Marketing 

Culture of Wellness in Preschools: Nutrition Education and Physical Activity (COWP NE/PA)

Culture of Wellness in Preschools: Nutrition Education and Physical Activity (COWP NE/PA) is a direct education and PSE change intervention designed to increase fruit and vegetable intake and physical activity levels in children and their parents, as well as to reduce their risk of obesity and chronic disease. In addition to providing nutrition education and physical activity in the classrooms, COWP works with Head Start Agencies and other preschool centers to identify and change school PSEs around nutrition and physical activity by working with preschool wellness teams to impact the health of the students and their families. COWP is also designed to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for SNAP will make healthy food choices within a limited budget and choose physically active lifestyles consistent with current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the USDA food guidance.  

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time  
Intervention Type: Direct Education, PSE Change 

10 Tips for Adults

10 Tips for Adults (10 Tips) is a multi-level direct education intervention designed to reinforce messages related to increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, increasing physical activity, consuming more water, and providing SNAP eligible adults with the skills to purchase healthy foods on a budget. The curriculum can be used in a variety of community-based settings frequented by SNAP eligible adults that complement and reinforce PSE interventions such as community gardens, healthy retail, worksite wellness, and healthcare clinical community linkages. The curriculum was designed to be implemented by qualified, professional Nutrition Educators and includes two distinct, but complementary, four-session series: Series A: Choosing MyPlate and Series B: Eating Better on a Budget. 10 Tips works to increase participants’ perceptions of the importance of a healthy diet and decrease their perceived barriers to shopping, cooking, and eating healthy on a budget. Each session includes a recipe demonstration and tasting to introduce participants to new healthy foods and simple cooking techniques to reduce perceived barriers to preparing healthy foods. 

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time, Other: Budget-savvy shopping strategies   
Intervention Type: Direct Education 

Stay Strong, Stay Healthy (SSSH)

Stay Strong, Stay Healthy (SSSH) is a direct education intervention designed to help older adults increase physical activity, decrease sedentary behaviors, increase fruit and vegetable consumption, and sustain physical activity participation and healthy eating behaviors post program. SSSH strives to meet the need for effective community-based physical activity (PA) and nutrition programs, so classes are offered by trained SSSH instructors in familiar locations such as churches, community centers, and senior centers. SSSH consists of 16 one-hour sessions over eight weeks. Participants complete a warmup, a prescribed set of upper- and lower-body strengthening exercises, and a cool-down. SSSH challenges participants through incremental increases in exercise volume and intensity. Each PA session is followed by a nutrition lesson, and lessons are tailored to older adults by addressing topics such as fiber, bone health, and vitamins and minerals for healthy aging. In addition to weekly group classes, participants are encouraged to complete the program on their own once a week, including preparation of the recipes. After the course ends, participants are still encouraged to continue at home or with a community group. The overall goal of SSSH is to increase PA and improve nutrition behavior to help seniors maintain independence.

Target Behavior: Healthy Eating, Physical Activity and Reducing Screen Time

Intervention Type: Direct Education