Food Insecurity
Conditions
Keywords
vulnerable populations, hospitalized children, health inequity
Brief summary
Food insecurity is the lack of consistent access to the food needed for a healthy life. Food insecurity among families whose child has been hospitalized is a critical problem affecting a large, vulnerable population. The purpose of this study is to identity the most effective ways to help those families with food insecurity.
Detailed description
To address food insecurity among families who child has been hospitalized, study objectives are 1) to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of providing family meals and grocery store gift cards to address food insecurity among children discharged from the hospital, and 2) evaluate the potential impact of the interventions on household food insecurity, 30-day readmission rates, and primary care follow up. To accomplish these objectives, this pilot feasibility trial will be conducted at Atrium Health Levine Children's-Brenner Children's Hospital, an academic medical center that serves communities with high rates of food insecurity, in collaboration with our long-term partner Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. The will recruit families whose child was admitted to the hospital and screened positive for food insecurity. All families will be enrolled for a total of 4 weeks to evaluate the difference in food insecurity, family health measures, and hospital-based quality metrics (including readmission rates and primary care follow up).
Interventions
OTHERPrepared Meals
Participants will receive the intervention of weekly home meal delivery, consecutively for 4 weeks, delivered to their home. The meals will be provided by Providence Community Kitchen, which is a program of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC. During the 4 weeks of meal provisions, participants will receive 7 family style frozen dinners delivered to the participant's home weekly. Meals are frozen, have minimal preparation time, and can be heated by oven.
OTHERGrocery Gift Cards
Participants will receive weekly grocery store gift cards, consecutively for 4 weeks. During the 4 weeks of gift card provisions, participants will receive (1) $40.00 grocery store gift card weekly, mailed to participants' home address by study staff.
OTHERStandard of Care
Participants will receive the current standard for care for families endorsing inpatient food insecurity during a hospitalization, which include provision of printed and electronic food access resources. Currently, all families with positive food insecurity screening are met by a community health worker in the hospital who reviews current food access status with families (including enrollment in federal nutrition programs) and provides them with printed and electronic resources of nearby food pantries and other food access resources available to them at time of discharge from the hospital.
Sponsors
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* caregiver and legal guardian of a pediatric patient hospitalized in the acute care units of Brenner Children's Hospital, who have screened positive for food insecurity during the hospitalization. * lives in the same household as the pediatric patient hospitalized * lives in Forsyth County, North Carolina * has a freezer and oven in the household * does not have family members with food allergies in the household * willing to accept weekly meal deliveries at home address * speaks English or Spanish
Exclusion criteria
* subjects who do not have the capacity to give legally effective consent * planning to leave Forsyth County, North Carolina within 6 months of enrollment date
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Caregivers Asked to Take Part in Study | Month 4 | Number of caregivers of pediatric inpatients asked to take part in the study. |
| Number of Caregivers Consented | Month 4 | Number of caregivers of pediatric inpatients who consented to take part in the study. |
| Number of Meals Delivered | Month 4 | Number of meals delivered to participants in the Meal Delivery arm. |
| Number of Gift Cards Delivered | Month 4 | Number of gift cards delivered to participants in the Grocery Gift Card arm. |
| Number of Post-Intervention Surveys Completed | Month 4 | Number of caregivers who completed the post-intervention satisfaction surveys upon study completion. |
Countries
United States
Contacts
CONTACTLeila DeWitt, DO, MA
CONTACTSelina Quinones
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORLeila DeWitt, DO, MA
Brenner Children's Hospital
Outcome results
None listed