JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE NUTRITION
PROGRAM EDUCATION DESIGN
Designing a Five-Course Peer Education Program, Body-Spirit-Soul (Nutrition and Faith) for Trauma Populations: A Proposed Framework
Hollywood, JB
FIRST PUBLISHED
2025-02-01
Article:
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ABSTRACT
Background: This paper explores the development of a body-spirit-soul educational course designed for vulnerable populations facing trauma or extremely stressful negative life events. Such experiences often manifest in this population as nutritional deficiencies, poor mental health, and a disrupted spiritual connection leading to challenging lifestyles. This article outlines the rationale behind the course design.
Methods: A five-course self-directed peer-education program was designed, incorporating nutrition, mental health, and faith-based practices. Feedback was gathered from 84 live speaking engagements focused on motivational topics, followed by a needs assessment to identify gaps in current support systems for vulnerable populations.
Findings: Findings indicated that a lack of understanding basic lifestyle recovery elements, such as understanding levels of change, mapping of personal historical timelines, knowledge of nutrition and malnutrition induced cerebral-neurological dysfunction, utilization of effective body-spirit-soul health practices, and setting clear lifestyle goals (i.e. leadership, success, and personal growth), hinders recovery. The proposed program is designed to bridge these gaps, offering accessible, peer-driven education to empower individuals and promote recovery. A new integrative model, Nutri-Theology, was coined to propose an intervention that combines principles of nutrition and faith-based practices. A success formula was structured to guide participants in applying the knowledge gained from the courses into actionable and sustainable lifestyle changes. Self-directed courses are strongly recommended.
Conclusion: The proposed five-course peer-education program presents a valuable opportunity to support individuals facing life challenges by integrating nutrition, mental health, and faith-based practices, with further research needed to evaluate its effectiveness and refine its application across diverse populations and settings.
COI STATEMENT
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
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