Bill Jefferson’s Post

Food is medicine!! And remember the essential aspect of 💤Sleep 🏋🏽♂️Exercise 😫Stress strategies Avoiding Risky substances 🎢Social Connections This is whole health. #LifestyleMedicine #LifestyleMedicineCoach #PositiveIntelligence #MentalFitness #PainNeuroscienceEducation #HealthAndWellnessCoaching

USPSTF has stated the evidence is insufficient to support routine primary care screening for #foodinsecurity. While I’m sometimes frustrated by USPSTF, I agree with this strong essay by Seth Berkowitz that the report is spot on. The case isn’t clear that screening questions make enough difference. (As a side note, every additional screening question reduces the discussion time for questions the patients come in with and value.) What we can all agree upon is that the #healthpolicy and #publicpolicy imperatives are clear. The US has a greater percentage of its residents going hungry daily than other high income nations and fewer supports to reduce food insecurity. Food insecurity creates and exacerbates physical and medical conditions. We as physicians and nurses can help our patients’ health by advocating publicly for solutions to food insecurity outside healthcare. “Perhaps most importantly, we should view this draft report as an opportunity to recognize that addressing food insecurity outside of healthcare may be even more important than inside it.” (Seth Berkowitz, Med Page Today Opinion)

Title: Transforming Healthcare: The Impact of Better Food and Housing on Preventive Healthcare Boston Medical Center (BMC), New England's largest safety-net hospital, is leading the charge in addressing the root causes of poor health beyond conventional medicine. Since 2001, BMC's Preventive Food Pantry has provided healthy groceries to 7,500 patients monthly. Recognizing the link between housing instability and adverse health outcomes, BMC initiated efforts in 2016 to help medically complex families secure stable housing, resulting in significantly improved health outcomes for children. At BMC's Health Equity Accelerator, housing plays a vital role in preventive medicine. With a $6.5 million investment since 2017, BMC is enhancing community health through more affordable, supportive, and stable housing solutions. Collaborations with Boston Children's Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital have focused on increasing housing stability for vulnerable populations. Additionally, BMC's investment in affordable housing developments will provide sixty supportive housing units for individuals with complex medical needs. These investments, partially funded through the Massachusetts Determination of Need (DoN) process, highlight BMC's commitment to improving community health. During campus renovations in 2017, BMC directed its DoN funding towards expanding Boston's inventory of supportive housing units, solidifying its dedication to health equity. The impact of better housing on preventive healthcare is profound. By addressing housing instability, BMC is transforming healthcare delivery and creating lasting positive outcomes for individuals and communities. As BMC continues to innovate and collaborate, its mission remains steadfast: advancing health equity and ensuring access to resources for all to thrive.

🔷Quality metrics that rely on process 'check boxes' are a reasonable first start. For SDoH, measuring the presence of food insecurity through a 'Y/N' patient survey provides baseline data as to the frequency and prevalence of food insecurity within a defined population. 🔷However, at the level of outcomes, just measuring the presence of an SDoH does not lead to improvement. In the case attached, a patient assessment of food insecurity (while laudable) doesn't necessarily lead to a recommendation nor to action to alleviate the food insecurity. 🔷✅➡️Point noted: Time to move past "assessment" measures and move to "actions" and "outcome" measures. These are the measures that must now be funded. Assessment is table stakes only. #socialdeterminantsofheaslth #SDOH #healthpolichy

Today, University Hospitals was one of five hospitals nationally who were honored with the American Hospital Association Dick Davidson NOVA award. This award recognizes hospitals and health systems for their collaborative efforts toward improving community health status through healthcare, economic or social initiatives. We were recognized for our Food for Life Markets® -- our food-as-medicine preventative model that addresses food insecurity and chronic health conditions. UH Chief Diversity, Equity and Belonging Officer Celina Cunanan, MSN, APRN-CNM, FACNM Cunanan accepted the award on behalf of UH. This prestigious award from the AHA continues to emphasize the importance of our decision back in 2018 to address food insecurity – which we then identified as one of the greatest health needs in Cuyahoga County. We collaborated with Sodexo Nutrition Services and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank to open the first UH Food for Life Market® within the UH Otis Moss, Jr. Health Center. Today, we have five such markets, with plans to open another this year. Patients screening positive for food insecurity by their UH clinician receive a referral to a UH Food for Life Market®, where they receive free, healthy food. Onsite consultations with a dietitian help patients select food that addresses their medical need, while also ensuring the food options presented are culturally sensitive. The goal is to help patients control chronic conditions and live healthier lives, and results show that it’s doing just that. Patients referred to UH Food for Life Markets® saw a decrease in blood pressure; pregnant women with higher BMIs experienced less weight gain; patients with chronic kidney conditions saw reduced blood pressure readings; and diabetic patients improved their A1C scores. “One secret of the markets,” said Celina, “is the active participation of dietitians. That is a nice, wonderful way for our patients to get an individualized, tailored approach to their visit and form that relationship with the dietitian, because every month they come back and they see that same dietitian who can then check in on them.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/g_wbMA-x #foodinsecurity #foodasmedicine #healthequity #socialdisparitiesofhealth

Impactful evaluation findings as well as supporting beneficiaries on how to increase access to food assistance programs for US eligible individuals/households. I am glad “Food is Medicine” programs are scaling up the social determinants of health and link to food security prevalence. This Feeding America project is a great step in the right direction as US populations still struggle with food insecurity even in this post-pandemic era. This study highlights how access to more nutritious foods can bolster the overall well-being of a community. As at October, recent USDA report shows foood insecurity affects more than 44 million people in the United States which increases the risk for diet-related diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure in the nation. More work to be done! #foodsecurity #usda #foodbanks

ANNOUNCEMENT www.TheNHF.com : I am happy to announce I (and my company ReachOut Communications Corp. (ROCC)) has been hired as the Web and Social Account Manager for the National Health Federation (https://TheNHF.com). I am passionate about NHF and what they stand for. It was a Doctor I worked with years ago who recommended me to thee NHF. What is the NHF? The NHF: 1. Protects access to alternative health therapies and healthy medicine. In fact, the NHF stopped congress from passing a law years ago that would have prohibited vitamins and supplements from be sent in the mail! 2. Protects your right to purchase the full range of dietary supplements. 3. Protects the rights of alternative (integrative) doctors, chiropractors, and other healers. 4. Oppose toxins and contaminants in your food and water. 5. Support health food store owners’ right to exist. Please visit their website and consider becoming a member, and giving a donation, any amount would be appreciated. https://thenhf.com/

Research Article | Toward health promotion and prevention: Evidence from a food and health partnership model of care John Lowrey,  Aravind Chandrasekaran,  Amy Headings,  Ayaz Hyder https://lnkd.in/gh5HTUKK Health promotion and disease prevention requires health systems address the patients' social needs using new care delivery models. Yet, research in this area has stalled for several reasons. We study a partnership model of care that couples clinical care delivered by primary care providers and social services delivered by community-based organizations, and its impact on patients' preventive health outcomes and behaviors. We use data from the Mid-Ohio Farmacy, which is a collaboration across the Mid-Ohio Food Collective (MOFC), a network of 650+ affiliated food pantries, and a large federally qualified health center (FQHC). The FQHC offers primary and preventative healthcare services across eight free clinics, which are co-located with the MOFC-affiliated food pantries. Patients were screened for food insecurity during their clinic visit and, if positive, were referred to the Farmacy. Compliers made at least one visit to the food pantry after referral, while noncompliers did not. Using difference-in-differences, we find that compliers had no discernible change in their body mass index (BMI, kg/m2), which we refer to as a BMI stabilization effect. Noncompliers' BMI increased after referral. High comorbid and high pantry use compliers experienced a significant reduction in their BMI and a marginally significant reduction in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c, %). These patients had unique compliance behaviors, including greater search, frequency, and consistency of food pantry use. Travel costs suggests that high comorbid patients ascribed a greater value to the Farmacy program. In terms of primary care utilization, we find that compliers' clinic visit patterns after referral were consistent with the visit patterns observed in the food secure cohort, suggesting that the Farmacy program may have helped compliers address competing demands that are known to inhibit health behaviors. (Partial image credit https://lnkd.in/g9N_3ZRa )

📢 Excited to share our latest publication that synthesizes the literature on food insecurity screening to inform best practice implementation. In this comprehensive review we 📌 identify food insecurity screening tools and their validity across contexts and population groups (including Indigenous populations) 📌 explore the experiences of those doing the screening and being screened 📌 map barriers and facilitators of screening onto the COM-B model of behaviour change 📌 provide practical recommendations to optimise screening. ✅ Spoiler alert: The 2-item Hunger Vital Sign emerged as the most used and most valid tool across settings.  Danielle Gallegos, FDA, GAICD Megan Rebuli Mandy Taylor Ray Mahoney

A new report led by the University of Michigan School of Public Health details the first-hand experiences of food-insecure families: their challenges signing up for food assistance, the stress and shame of having to ask for help with food, and parents’ deep commitment to making sure their children are fed—even if it means that they go without. The report describes the findings of the Feeding MI Families community-based participatory research project, which has engaged nearly 1,300 parents from urban and rural communities across the state. The goal of the project is to elevate the lived experience of food insecurity in order to spur improvements in federal, state, and local food systems so they work better for families. “There are a lot of stereotypes and assumptions about families experiencing food insecurity,” says Kate Bauer, director of Feeding MI Families and an associate professor of Nutritional Sciences at Michigan Public Health. “We hope that Feeding MI Families helps dispel these inaccuracies and motivates more organizations to meaningfully engage individuals with lived experience in decision making. Communities know what they need to overcome food insecurity. We need to listen and learn from them.” Learn more and read the report: https://myumi.ch/7Pn5x Michigan Farm Bureau Family of Companies, W.K. Kellogg Foundation