Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing

Minneapolis, MN

Member since 2016

Wellbeing is the Main Course in University Teaching Kitchen

The University of Minnesota Center for Spirituality & Healing has been advancing the health and wellbeing of individuals, organizations, and communities since 1995. It offers interdisciplinary courses, conducts rigorous research, and advances integrative models of care. With no permanent teaching kitchen space, the center collaborates with community organizations to bring its programming to retail spaces, shared community kitchens and schools. This sustainable model allows the center to increase the accessibility of its programs and to maximize their reach.

A major focus at the center is its academic course Food Matters for Health Professionals: Continuing Education Course. This inter-professional course is an evidence-based, experiential-learning, applied nutrition, and culinary skills course taught in a collaborative environment.

Free and pay-as-you-can programming is typically offered quarterly and reaches almost 700 people. In addition, the Taking Charge of Your Health & Wellbeing website, free and openly accessible, leads visitors to examine six aspects of their wellbeing and attracts over 250,000 visitors each month. The Diet and Nutrition section includes a wealth of information and activities to support healthy eating.

Pop-up and borrowed kitchens in community settings

IMPACT

If I have an outlet and a table, I have a teaching kitchen.

Jenny Breen, Teaching Kitchen Instructor

Publications

Jore L, Shafto K, Breen J, Friedrichsen S, Pearson J. Effects of Pilot Nutrition Curriculum on Medical Student Knowledge and Ability at the University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth Campus. Journal of Regional Medical Campuses. 2023; 6(1).

Shafto K, Breen J, Wang Q, Simmons K. A Recipe for Wellbeing: Improving Provider Wellbeing, Eating Habits and Nutrition Knowledge Through a Brief Experiential Cooking Course. Pediatrics Jul 2020, 146 (1 MeetingAbstract) 250-251.

Shafto K, Breen J, Decker D. Reimagining Nutrition Education in a Teaching Kitchen. Findings from a Pilot Study. Minnesota Medicine. 2016 Sep-Oct;99(6):44-45.

Kligler B, Brooks AJ, Maizes V, et al. Interprofessional Competencies in Integrative Primary Healthcare. Global Advances in Health and Medicine. September 2015:33-39.

Dawn Bazarko, Rebecca A. Cate, Francisca Azocar & Mary Jo Kreitzer. The Impact of an Innovative Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program on the Health and Well-Being of Nurses Employed in a Corporate Setting, Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 2013;28:2, 107-133.

Press

Star Tribune, “At the U, future doctors and nurses learning to treat patients with food,” January 2018