The proposed project aims to improve food access for autistic adults in Alachua County, FL, who are at a heightened risk of poor health outcomes due to an Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) score of at least one (Felitti et al., 1998). The project will be implemented using a trauma-informed approach, incorporating SAMHSA's Six Principles of Trauma-Informed Organizations (2014), at both individual and community levels of McLeroy's Social Ecological Model (1988). The public health framework used in the project includes primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention activities, which focus on identifying participants at risk of malnutrition or undernutrition, developing personalized food care plans, and promoting access to food for autistic adults through community-level interventions. The project will utilize an interdisciplinary team of subject matter experts, including an ACE study expert, registered dietician, physician, epidemiologist, autism clinical expert, health education specialist, and two community members representing the City of Gainesville and the University of Florida. By implementing a trauma-informed approach and integrating the principles of safety, trustworthiness and transparency, peer support and mutual self-help, collaboration and mutuality, empowerment, voice, and choice, and cultural, historical, and gender issues, the project aims to provide a safe and inclusive environment for the target population.
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