Ripple Effect Mapping Outcomes of a Childhood Obesity Prevention Program From Youth and Adult Dyads Using a Qualitative Approach: iCook 4-H

Abstract

Objective: To describe the impact of the iCook 4-H intervention study based on data gathered through ripple effect mapping focus groups through an explorative approach. Design: YouthÀadult dyads responded about ways in which iCook had affected the individual, family, and community. Three questions were asked: (1) What were people doing differently as a result of iCook? (2) Who benefited from iCook and how? (3) Were there changes in the way community groups and institutions did things as a result of iCook? Setting: Ripple effect mapping sessions took place across 5 states (Maine, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia). Participants: Seventy dyad participants (n = 35 youth, n = 35 adults) from the iCook 4-H intervention. Main Outcome Measure: Three core themes of iCook 4-H were assessed: cooking, eating, and playing together. Analysis: Direct content analysis and word frequencies were used. Results: Seven categories emerged: improved health, increased community involvement, increased knowledge, increased communication, changed motivation, financial mindfulness, and increased appreciation for family. An overarching theme that was determined was that learning new skills together through trying new things (cooking, eating, and playing) leads to positive individual family and community change. Conclusions and Implications: Ripple effect mapping was effective in determining the perceived impact of iCook 4-H on oneself, family, and community.

The iCook 4-H Study: An Intervention and Dissemination Test of a Youth/Adult Out-of-School Program

“…A qualitative impact evaluation conducted at the end of the 24-month Intervention Study is reported in this issue 83 to amplify the benefits of the Intervention Study for the treatment group. The researchers used ripple effects mapping (REM) 84 to assess program effectiveness by identifying participants' perceptions of the program's success for individuals, families, and the broader community.…”

“Spiraling up”: Using ripple effect mapping to evaluate how an extension volunteer program increases community development capacity

“…REM emerged as an evaluation method that allows researchers to map program impacts according to the community capitals framework in order to observe the "spiraling up" effect. REM has been used to evaluate poverty reduction programs (Welborn et al, 2016), youth programs (Baker & Johannes, 2013;Emery, 2013), a childhood obesity prevention program (Olfert et al, 2018(Olfert et al, , 2019, a tourism Extension program (Bhattacharyya, Templin, Messer, & Chazdon, 2017) and other community health and development programs (see Chazdon et al, 2017 for summaries). Importantly for this study, REM has also been used to evaluate an FCS volunteerism program, the Extension Wellness Ambassador Program in Arkansas (Washburn et al, 2018).…”

“…The mind mapping portion of REM allows participants to visualize these three different levels of changes, and encourages them to think through otherwise unrecognized or indirect impacts of their actions (Baker & Johannes, 2013;Kollock et al, 2012;Welborn et al, 2016). While some studies that use REM ask participants to categorize impacts according to the community capitals framework, Welborn et al (2016) and Olfert et al (2019) found that understanding the concept of community capitals can be challenging for community participants, and suggest instead that researchers use the framework to guide their analysis. While previous studies have used REM to assess the public value of interventions, and therefore look at "how the program would impact constituents who did not participate," (Haskell et al, 2019, p. 3), the current study is interested specifically in the impacts of an Extension volunteerism program on Extension's social capital assets.…”

“…as a way to study how using assets in one capital could build assets in others," (Hansen, 2017, p. 2), or in other words, to study the "spiraling up" effect at the community level. As a result, it is common for studies that use REM to ask participants to categorize program impacts in terms of which community capital they represent, or for researchers to use the community capitals framework to analyze the maps that are created during the REM process (Baker & Johannes, 2013;Emery, 2013;Gold et al, 2018;Haskell et al, 2019;Olfert et al, 2018Olfert et al, , 2019Welborn et al, 2016).…”

The iCook Supplemental Issue

“…A new dimension, for myself at least, is the impact evaluation using Ripple Effects Mapping as described in the first Olfert et al article. 4 Once again, these researchers provide us with more than just the results of the project in identifying and describing novel methods. As we as researchers begin to use these novel methods, they reflect the outcomes reported in this article.…”