Food Insecurity Experience: Building Empathy in Future Food and Nutrition Professionals

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess changes in empathy in students completing a food insecurity experience. DESIGN: Mixed methods; quantitative data from survey in years 1 and 2; qualitative data extracted from students' workbooks in years 2-5. This study was conducted over 10weeks annually for 5years. SETTING: Northwest US land-grant university. PARTICIPANTS: Students enrolled in a community nutrition course who chose to complete the food insecurity exercise. Total included 58 students in quantitative analysis in years 1 and 2 and 119 in qualitative analysis, years 2-5. INTERVENTION(S): The intervention was a food insecurity experience in which participants spent no more than $3/d on food for 5days ($15 total) while striving for a nutritious diet and reflecting on their experience. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Empathy scores measured by Likert scales; participant responses and reflections recorded in workbook journals. ANALYSIS: Comparison of means across time using paired t tests (P<.05); coding and sorting themes from workbook journals. RESULTS: Quantitative findings indicated that both classroom content and experiential exercises were important for enhancing empathy about food insecurity. Empathy scores increased from time I to time II and from time I to time III. Qualitative reflections among participants included terms such as guilt, empathy, compassion, and raised consciousness about food insecurity. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Experiential and transformational learning to develop empathy can take place in a 5-day food insecurity experience during a typical university-level community nutrition course. This intervention can be tested for applications in other contexts.