Food insecurity affects many factors that contribute to the status of someone’s health, and people who live in poverty or rural areas are less likely to have access to healthy food. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, food insecurity is defined as “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.” A defining characteristic of a food insecure household is reduced food intake or disrupted eating patterns due to not having enough money for food. Households categorized as food insecure typically report going through some of the following experiences:
- Worries that food would run out before getting money to buy more
- Amount of food bought was not enough
- Could not afford to eat balanced meal
- Adults cut size of meals or skipped meals
- Did not eat even though they were hungry
- Did not eat for a whole day
As advocates for their patients, many hospitals have made their own efforts to improve patient access to healthy food and good nutrition.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about half of all American adults have one or more chronic conditions, many of which are diet-related, such as diabetes and obesity. Hospitals are in a good position to give patients examples of what healthy eating looks like, starting with in-hospital meals.
Hospitals such as Beaumont Hospital and Rex Hospital have started using a room-service model. Patients may order from a large menu of healthy options and food is delivered hot after review of dietary restrictions. This system minimizes waste and increases the likelihood that patients will eat. The system also gives patients a chance to explore healthy foods that they were previously hesitant to buy and prepare themselves, while giving hospital dietitians a chance to promote diet changes with real food examples.
Some hospitals are taking it a step further by providing food and resources to food-insecure families.
Boston Medical Center hospital workers started a garden on the hospital roof that produced 5,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables by the end of the year, which was distributed to hospital meal trays. The extra harvest was donated to the hospital salad bar and their Preventive Food Pantry, which distributed food to low-income patients who may be struggling to meet their nutritional needs on a limited budget. In addition, the hospital is also able to offer cooking demonstrations in the cafeteria to teach patients how to prepare healthy meals.
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Hospitals have also set up partnerships with other organizations to bring better nutrition to their communities. In addition to their own on-site garden, Arkansas Children’s Hospital partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to distribute over 60,000 packed lunches to children during clinical visits.
ProMedica physicians can prescribe a few days of food for food-insecure families, which can be picked up, along with free nutrition counseling by a licensed dietitian, at their “food pharmacies.” ProMedica is also involved with a community coalition that engages in food insecurity and nutrition policy. They partnered with a local casino to donate unused food from the casino restaurant to a food pantry.
Some people can find healthy eating daunting or boring, but hospitals have the opportunity to show patients that it does not have to be that way. Lankenau Medical Center in Pennsylvania has its own half-acre farm that produces food to be distributed to patients after clinical visits and hospital stays. Meals during hospital stays can show patients what healthy eating can look like, and by providing them with the produce to take home, the medical center gives them a chance to try it for themselves.
Nutritional knowledge and food access can be huge barriers to better health, but if hospitals can go further than nutrition pamphlets, they may actually provide patients with the education, example, and means to follow through.
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