The UNM Health Sciences Center is providing a cooking class to help participants recover from mental illnesses and substance abuse.
The class is offered at the UNM Psychiatric Center and is a part of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program.
“PSR practice is guided by the basic philosophy of rehabilitation, which holds that people with disabilities need opportunities to identify and choose for themselves their desired roles in the community with regard to living, learning, working and/or participating in social environments,” according to a UNM HSC press release.
PSR is focused on recovery, self-determination, daily living skills and individuals being able to function as independently as possible, said Helen Tafoya, clinical manager at the UNM Psychiatric Center’s Psychosocial Rehabilitation Program.
“Cooking skills are fundamental to self-care and learning to maintain a budget,” she said.
Skills classes offer support in acquiring basic skills crucial to mental health recovery and personal empowerment, according to the statement. Hands-on classes offered include cooking, ceramics, fabric arts, gardening, photography, basic computer skills, mindful living, creative writing and daily fitness classes.
PSR is funded by Medicaid and the New Mexico Behavioral Health Services Division on a fee-for-service basis, Tafoya said.
“PSR as a whole is based in addressing individualized recovery goals,” she said. “Cooking classes address cooking skill sets and assist individuals in learning how to take care of oneself from a nutritional perspective.”
Participants in the class are expected to take an active role in learning and practicing the skill sets taught, such as basic kitchen safety, meal planning, grocery shopping, how to follow a recipe, how to prepare a meal from ingredients already available and how to maintain proper kitchen cleanliness, Tafoya said.
“Also, those key social skills can be practiced when consumers must work with each other to prepare a meal or complete another cooking/kitchen project,” she said.
Each cooking class can accommodate approximately 10 consumers at a time, she said.
The program frequently offers more than one cooking class each cycle, which is 13 weeks for the program.
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“Many consumers opt to take several cooking classes over the course of their involvement with PSR,” Tafoya said.
The class also provides an opportunity for participants to take what they’ve learned and apply it to their own lifestyles.
“One consumer who lives with his parents has told me he now cooks at least one meal every weekend for his family. He takes a great deal of pride in that,” she said. “Many consumers who live alone are able to prepare nutritious meals for themselves. And for those on a limited budget, which is almost all the individuals we serve, they are better able to make their food dollars stretch and are able to make better food choices.”
Peter Kennedy, supervisor of community-based services at the PSR, said that the cooking classes improve self-efficacy of the participants and they start trusting their abilities and skills.
“It gives individuals basic skills to live independently,” Kennedy said. “It also provides an opportunity to work as a group. It gives them confidence when they are able to cook a meal for themselves. It is an achievement that many of them may or may not have had prior to this cooking class.”
Tafoya said she saw many consumers with increased self-esteem and pride when they show off the finished product.
“As a group they are more likely to try a new recipe or cooking technique together than any single person would try alone,” she said. “There is also something very healing about cooking a meal in community and then sharing it with others.”
Sayyed Shah is the assistant news editor at the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at assistant-news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @mianfawadshah.
