Food Rx + Community Health Worker

NCT ID: NCT06476990

Last Updated: 2024-06-27

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 47 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-05-14
• Study Completion Date: 2022-05-03

Brief Summary

Food insecurity increases an individual's risk of poor health outcomes from some of the most costly and preventable chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes. The goal of this interventional pilot study is to see if primary care patients with self-reported food insecurity and a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes who receive 12 weekly home deliveries of fresh produce and diabetes-appropriate, shelf-stable food will have improved diabetes management. Half of these patients also received support from a community health worker (CHW) including nutrition and cooking education and tailored assistance accessing food resources and other social needs (example: transportation). The investigators hypothesized that participants receiving support from a CHW along with food boxes would have greater improvement in health outcomes compared to those participants who received only food.

Detailed Description

Food Rx + CHW is a 3-month community health worker led medically tailored grocery intervention for patients with self-reported food insecurity and a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes at one academic medical center in the Midwest United States. Prior to contact and recruitment, eligible patients were randomly assigned to receive 12 weekly food deliveries and support from a CHW (Food + CHW group) or food deliveries only (Food-only group).

All participants receive 12 weekly contactless deliveries of food. CHWs conduct three virtual study visits with participants to administer surveys and/or collect biomarker measurements at weeks 1, 12, and 24. No changes in the frequency of visits with the patient's provider are recommended. Virtual visit 1 involves the completion of study forms, assessment of household size for most meals, cultural preferences, food allergies, baseline cooking and eating habits, and assessment for knowledge and usage of local and/or federal food support programs. At week 12, participants use at home kits and devices (provided by the study) to measure and report their HbA1C, weight and blood pressure and complete post-intervention surveys on diet, knowledge and usage of food access programs and resources, and an anonymous feedback questionnaire on the strengths and opportunities for improvement in the program. At week 24, participants measured and reported their final HbA1C, weight and self-collected blood pressure result.

In addition to food, participants in the Food + CHW group also received 7 weekly virtual sessions with a CHW (four 90-minute ZOOM counseling sessions and three 30 to 60-minute check-in phone calls). CHW sessions included diabetes-appropriate cooking and nutrition education and personalized benefit enrollment and linkage to existing food access resources (for example Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Double up Food Bucks, and Kansas Senior Farmers Market Vouchers).

Each weekly food box contained approximately $8 worth of shelf-stable food items purchased from a local food bank (beans, canned vegetables and no-sugar added fruit, shelf-stable dairy products, canned tuna, and whole grains) and $25 of fresh produce (5-7 items including leafy greens, peppers, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, celery, cabbage, asparagus, apples, or strawberries). When seasonably available, fresh vegetables and fruit were sourced from local farmers via a local food hub. When local produce was not available, CHWs sourced produce from grocery stores.

Conditions

Diabetes Type 2

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Food-only group

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Healthy food box

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All participants received 12 weekly deliveries of food containing approximately $8 worth of shelf-stable food items purchased from a local food bank (beans, canned vegetables and no-sugar added fruit, shelf-stable dairy products, canned tuna, and whole grains) and $25 of fresh produce (5-7 items including leafy greens, peppers, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, celery, cabbage, asparagus, apples, or strawberries). When seasonably available, fresh vegetables and fruit were sourced from local farmers via a local food hub. In addition to food, participants in the Food + CHW group also received 7 weekly virtual sessions with a CHW (four 90-minute ZOOM counseling sessions and three 30 to 60-minute check-in phone calls). CHW sessions included diabetes-appropriate cooking and nutrition education and personalized benefit enrollment and linkage to existing food access resources (for example SNAP, Double up Food Bucks, and Kansas Senior Farmers Market Vouchers).

Food + CHW group

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Healthy food box

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All participants received 12 weekly deliveries of food containing approximately $8 worth of shelf-stable food items purchased from a local food bank (beans, canned vegetables and no-sugar added fruit, shelf-stable dairy products, canned tuna, and whole grains) and $25 of fresh produce (5-7 items including leafy greens, peppers, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, celery, cabbage, asparagus, apples, or strawberries). When seasonably available, fresh vegetables and fruit were sourced from local farmers via a local food hub. In addition to food, participants in the Food + CHW group also received 7 weekly virtual sessions with a CHW (four 90-minute ZOOM counseling sessions and three 30 to 60-minute check-in phone calls). CHW sessions included diabetes-appropriate cooking and nutrition education and personalized benefit enrollment and linkage to existing food access resources (for example SNAP, Double up Food Bucks, and Kansas Senior Farmers Market Vouchers).

Interventions

Healthy food box

All participants received 12 weekly deliveries of food containing approximately $8 worth of shelf-stable food items purchased from a local food bank (beans, canned vegetables and no-sugar added fruit, shelf-stable dairy products, canned tuna, and whole grains) and $25 of fresh produce (5-7 items including leafy greens, peppers, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, celery, cabbage, asparagus, apples, or strawberries). When seasonably available, fresh vegetables and fruit were sourced from local farmers via a local food hub. In addition to food, participants in the Food + CHW group also received 7 weekly virtual sessions with a CHW (four 90-minute ZOOM counseling sessions and three 30 to 60-minute check-in phone calls). CHW sessions included diabetes-appropriate cooking and nutrition education and personalized benefit enrollment and linkage to existing food access resources (for example SNAP, Double up Food Bucks, and Kansas Senior Farmers Market Vouchers).

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Community health worker

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• English or Spanish speaking,
• Diagnosis of type 2 diabetes with a most recent HbA1C > 7,
• Previously answered "yes" to the food insecurity needs question ("In the last 12 months, did you ever eat less than you should because there wasn't enough money for food?") on a SDOH screener during a patient care visit

Exclusion Criteria

• Participant address was outside the delivery zone (the Kansas City Metro area),
• Participant resides in a facility that provides all meals.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Blue Cross Blue Shield

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

University of Kansas Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kristina Bridges

Research Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

University of Kansas Medical Center

Kansas City, Kansas, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

STUDY00144654

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id