Food insecurity reduction amongst people referred to a North West London Food Bank. Other
Conditions
Interventions
Participants will be recruited to join the study after receiving a referral to the food bank and colleting a first food parcel. Typically, referrals entitle people to receive a total of 6 food parcels
Sponsors
University of Liverpool
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to 120 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Individuals must be 18 years of age or older. 2. Individuals must be from a household referred to the food bank (either the person named on the referral form or the person collecting their first food parcel from the food bank). 3. Individuals must be eligible to receive six food parcels - Households must be receiving a referral from the food bank for the first time or have not received a food parcel from the food bank for 12 months or more. 4. All participants must be able to provide their informed consent to participate in the study. Effort will be made to ensure participation for people with low levels of literacy or those unable to speak, read, or write English. Study materials and questionnaires will be available in Arabic and, if required, other languages commonly spoken among people referred to the food bank
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Due to the nature of the intervention, people who are seeking asylum in the UK and either applying to receive Section 95 support or already in receipt of this support are not eligible to participate in this study. This is because being in regular receipt of food or payments for a period of 6 weeks may compromise their eligibility for Section 95 support or may require them to declare this support to the Home Office. Doing so may compromise their eligibility for Section 95 support or reduce their entitlements. 2. Individuals who are unable to provide informed consent will also not be eligible to participate.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Food insecurity measured using the Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Insecurity Experience Scale, modified for a 2-week recall period, and measured at 3 weeks and 6 weeks. Moderate or severe food insecurity is classified as answering at least 3 of the 8 items on the scale affirmatively. Severe food insecurity is classified as answering at least 7 items affirmatively 2. To address research question 2, we will report the proportion of people choosing the payment card option over the food parcel option in the intervention group (Group Blue) at baseline. This will be a simple proportion of the total number of participants allocated to the intervention group. Given that participants can opt to change their mind during the 6 week period, we will also report the proportion of participants choosing the payment card option at the end of the 6 week study period | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| 1. Mental health and well-being, as measured by the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Health and Wellbeing Scale, measured at 3 weeks and 6 weeks 2. Proportion reporting good or very good health as measured by a self-rated general health question, measured at measured at 3 weeks and 6 weeks 3. Proportion reporting ability to meet their dietary preferences. This is a novel survey question capturing respondents self-reported ability to eat the kinds of food they want to eat in the past two weeks. This will be measured at 3 weeks and 6 weeks 4. Weekly frequency of fruit consumption and weekly frequency of vegetable consumption, measured at 3 weeks and 6 weeks 5. Self-reported engagement with additional services offered by the food bank (at 6 weeks only) | — |
Countries
England, United Kingdom
Contacts
Public ContactNatasha Bayes
Outcome results
None listed