Browsing by Author "Reinoso, Deanna"

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    Addressing Food Insecurity: Lessons Learned from Co-Locating a Food Pantry with a Federally Qualified Health Center
    (Ubiquity Press, 2022-09-30) Reinoso, Deanna; Haut, Dawn; Claffey, Stephen; Hahn Keiner, Kathy; Chavez, Alejandra; Nace, Nicole; Carter, Amy; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Social determinants of health, such as food insecurity, contribute to chronic health conditions, decreased quality of life, and health disparities. Increasingly, healthcare systems seek to address social determinants of health by integrating medical and social care. Description: Eskenazi Health Center Pecar is a Federally Qualified Health Center providing comprehensive primary care to vulnerable patients in Indianapolis, IN, USA. This health center, in coalition with community partners, established and continually developed an integrated food pantry model to address food insecurity, improve nutrition education, and support patient access to healthy food. Discussion: Food insecurity and poor nutrition are common in primary care and contribute to the incidence and outcomes of chronic conditions such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Long-term management of food assistance and nutrition programs requires substantial resources, partnerships, and leadership. We describe lessons learned in food pantry partnership, funding, logistics, and sustainability in a collaborative food access model integrated into healthcare. These lessons learned can be utilized by other health systems to scale up and accelerate strategies to better address food security and nutrition education. This paper articulates best practices for integrating a food pantry model within primary care with the goal of long-term sustainability and direct impact on patient health outcomes.
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    Addressing Food Insecurity: Lessons Learned from Co-Locating a Food Pantry with a Federally Qualified Health Center
    (Ubiquity Press, 2022-09-30) Reinoso, Deanna; Haut, Dawn; Claffey, Stephen; Hahn Keiner, Kathy; Chavez, Alejandra; Nace, Nicole; Carter, Amy; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Social determinants of health, such as food insecurity, contribute to chronic health conditions, decreased quality of life, and health disparities. Increasingly, healthcare systems seek to address social determinants of health by integrating medical and social care. Description: Eskenazi Health Center Pecar is a Federally Qualified Health Center providing comprehensive primary care to vulnerable patients in Indianapolis, IN, USA. This health center, in coalition with community partners, established and continually developed an integrated food pantry model to address food insecurity, improve nutrition education, and support patient access to healthy food. Discussion: Food insecurity and poor nutrition are common in primary care and contribute to the incidence and outcomes of chronic conditions such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. Long-term management of food assistance and nutrition programs requires substantial resources, partnerships, and leadership. We describe lessons learned in food pantry partnership, funding, logistics, and sustainability in a collaborative food access model integrated into healthcare. These lessons learned can be utilized by other health systems to scale up and accelerate strategies to better address food security and nutrition education. This paper articulates best practices for integrating a food pantry model within primary care with the goal of long-term sustainability and direct impact on patient health outcomes.
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    The Food Resources and Kitchen Skills intervention: Protocol of a randomized controlled trial
    (Public Library of Science, 2025-02-06) Peña, Armando; Dawkins, Emily; Adams, Mariah; Moser, Lyndsi R.; Carter, Amy; Rivera, Rebecca L.; Reinoso, Deanna; Tu, Wanzhu; Holden, Richard J.; Clark, Daniel O.; Psychiatry, School of Medicine
    Introduction: Individuals with food insecurity are disproportionately burdened by hypertension (HTN) and type 2 diabetes and face greater barriers to self-managing these conditions. Methods: Food Resources and Kitchen Skills (FoRKS) is an ongoing 2-arm parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT) that will enroll 200 adults (35-75 y) with food insecurity and elevated systolic blood pressure (≥120 mmHg) at a large federally qualified health center (FQHC) network in Central Indiana. Blood pressure is measured using an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) device. The (FoRKS, N = 100) intervention integrates hypertension self-management education and support (SMES) with a home-delivered ingredient kit and cooking skills program (16 weeks). Enhanced Usual Care (EUC, N = 100) includes usual care services by the FQHC network, SMES classes (separate from FoRKS), and grocery assistance. This paper describes the protocol for this RCT that will: 1) test the efficacy of FoRKS compared to EUC for reducing systolic blood pressure using an intention to treat protocol, 2) identify behavior change levers (e.g., engagement, social support) and their associations with change in food insecurity, diet quality, and systolic blood pressure, 3) examine the maintenance of outcomes, and 4) assess cost-effectiveness. Conclusions: Establishing that a food insecurity and SMES intervention, compared to usual care services, is feasible in FQHCs and efficacious for improving blood pressure and related outcomes would have important public health implications. Understanding the behavior change levers of FoRKS that are associated with changes in health outcomes, whether these outcomes are maintained, and its cost-effectiveness will inform future efforts to address health disparities.