View clinical trials related to Food Insecurity.
Filter by:Research on economic mobility barriers consistently demonstrates that lack of access to jobs that pay living wages and to asset building opportunities coupled with cliff effects across public assistance programs (families losing multiple benefits at the same time when their incomes increase) traps families in a cycle of poverty and food insecurity, and as a result, negatively impacts their financial well-being and physical and mental health. The investigators will explore the extent to which an Economic Mobility Pilot improves the financial well-being, physical and mental health, and reduces the social risks of study participants. Study participants will be eligible consented Boston Medical Center (BMC) employees. The intervention developed for this study consists of six months of coaching session offered by the Career Navigator. Participant will receive support on career and financial through services, such as career pathway navigation, employee benefit maximization, financial literacy, wealth building, resources, and referrals. A step wedge design will be implemented with participants randomized in two groups, Group 1, and Group 2 - intervention on different timeframe, analysis of the difference and similarities between groups pre- and post-survey. The qualitative component will include focus group of participants to provide information on the employee's perception of the intervention received, barriers to adherence and facilitators, and semi- structured interviews of the employer leadership to help assess the barriers and facilitators of the pilot. A primary aim of this research is to monitor changes in economic mobility and financial well-being. Additional aims are to investigate changes in household hardships and employee, employee depressive symptoms, and their child's health. The investigators will examine whether the participants in the intervention group compared to those before receiving the intervention, are more likely to: - Increase employee retention and self-reported financial well-being. - Improve self-reported food security. - Improve housing stability, energy security, childcare access, and/or health care access. - Improve employee self-reported physical health status, and/or reduce self-reported anxiety and depressive symptoms. - Improve employee-reported physical health status of the employee's child. - Cost of delivery of the intervention - Increased family income as result of this intervention
This research is a randomized pilot study of an intervention to address food insecurity among intermediate risk Boston Accountable Care Organization (BACO) members receiving primary care at Boston Medical Center (BMC). The investigators propose a parallel group, randomized pilot study among intermediate risk Medicaid ACO patients at BMC who have experienced food insecurity in the past 12 months, with a total enrollment of 120 participants (N=120). Half of the pilot study participants (n=60) will receive usual care: tailored printed paper referral guides to address health-related social needs, including resources for food insecurity (via the Health System's THRIVE Screening & Referral Program) and referrals to Boston Medical Center's Preventative Food Pantry. The other half (n=60) will receive access to a mobile fresh produce market and a monthly stipend to purchase items available on the mobile food trucks. This pilot study will partner with Fresh Truck, a Boston-based 501(c)(3) organization that deploys mobile fresh produce trucks throughout Boston neighborhoods. Fresh Truck recently launched a new system, called 'Fresh Connect,' which addresses affordability as a barrier to healthy eating. 'Fresh Connect' enables healthcare systems to pay for fresh produce purchased by their patients from the Fresh Truck mobile markets. The study protocol comprises three steps: - Risk stratification before consent process to determine if the patient, at baseline, is within the top 3-20% of cost and utilization among BACO members. (This process is part of usual care operations in the Health System for ACO members). - Of BACO patients identified as intermediate risk, patients will be screened for proximity to Fresh Truck mobile markets (zip code is among current Fresh Truck service area), nutritional need (food insecurity identified in the last 12 months), and not documented as housing insecure. - Half the pilot study population will receive access to a mobile fresh food market intervention, Fresh Truck, and a stipend to purchase fresh produce aboard the trucks. The other half will receive usual care. Pilot study participation is 6 months and will include collection and measurement of data from the following sources: baseline interview; final (6-months post-enrollment) interview, electronic medical records (EMR), BMC Clinical Data Warehouse (BMC CDW), and BMC HealthNet Plan (BMCHP) claims.
The goal of this research program is to reduce health disparities by deploying an information-based intervention to increase caregiver utilization of community-based food supports and satisfaction with care among food insecure caregivers of hospitalized children. We will conduct a randomized controlled trial to evaluate, versus usual care, the effects of the CommunityRx-H intervention on caregiver use of food resources (primary), caregiver patient satisfaction with care (primary), caregiver mental health-related quality of life (secondary), and caregiver household food security (secondary). The proposed research will yield an understanding of how to leverage a child's hospitalization to effectively intervene on the problem of food insecurity. Findings will inform the rapidly growing field of healthcare-based interventions to address health-related social needs.