Addressing food insecurity in the inpatient setting: Results of a postdischarge pilot study

With a growing interest in screening for food insecurity (FI) during pediatric hospitalization, there is a parallel need to develop interventions. With input from caregivers experiencing FI, we sought to identify interventions to assist with short-term FI after discharge and evaluate their feasibili...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of hospital medicine 2024-11, Vol.19 (11), p.993-1000
Main Authors: Smith, Megan, Tepe, Kerry A, Sauers-Ford, Hadley, Atarama, Denise, Gilliam, Monique, Unaka, Ndidi, Beck, Andrew F, Shah, Anita N, Schondelmeyer, Amanda C, Auger, Katherine A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Caregivers
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Food Insecurity
Food security
Frozen foods
Hospitalization
Humans
Inpatients
Male
Patient Discharge
Pediatrics
Pilot Projects
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Summary:With a growing interest in screening for food insecurity (FI) during pediatric hospitalization, there is a parallel need to develop interventions. With input from caregivers experiencing FI, we sought to identify interventions to assist with short-term FI after discharge and evaluate their feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness. We first employed qualitative methods to identify potential interventions. Next, we conducted a pilot study of selected interventions for families experiencing FI. Seven days postdischarge, caregivers rated the intervention's feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness. We also assessed for ongoing FI. We summarized the median and proportion of "completely agree" responses to feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness questions, and we compared in-hospital and postdischarge FI using McNemar's test. In the qualitative stage, 14 caregivers prioritized three interventions: grocery store gift cards, grocery delivery/pick-up, and frozen meals. In the pilot study, 53 caregivers (25% of those screened) endorsed FI during their child's hospitalization and received one or more of the interventions. Every caregiver selected the grocery gift card option; 37 families (69.8%) also received frozen meals. Seven days after discharge, most caregivers rated the intervention as "completely" feasible (76%), acceptable (90%), and appropriate (88%). There was a significant decrease in caregivers who reported FI after discharge compared to during the hospitalization (p 
ISSN:1553-5592
1553-5606
1553-5606
DOI:10.1002/jhm.13421