Screening for and Responding to Food Insecurity Among Infusion Patients

Summary

Food insecurity impacts 1 in 8 people in the United States and 1 in 4 people receiving cancer treatment. Food insecurity is associated with poor dietary quality, adverse health conditions (e.g., Type 2 diabetes, overweight and obesity, hypertension), and worse cancer treatment outcomes. To effectively address food insecurity among people with cancer, screening and effective response programs are needed.

The Food to Overcome Disparities (FOOD) program screens breast cancer patients for food insecurity and refers people who screen positive to 11 clinic pantries across New York City. In addition to clinic referrals, researchers have found the addition of monthly grocery vouchers or home grocery delivery to be even more effective at improving treatment completion rates than pantry access alone. Another innovative food security strategy, nutritious no-prep, ready-to-eat meals may also be helpful for patients given that no-prep meals reduce the time and physical demand of food preparation.

Nutritious no-prep, ready-to-eat meals have been positively associated with improvements in healthy eating index (HEI) scores, fewer instances of hypoglycemia, and improved quality of life among people with food insecurity that have diabetes, but has yet to be tested among patients with cancer. People receiving cancer treatment, such as infusion services, often report fatigue and other barriers to food preparation, which make no-prep, ready-to-eat meals another potential solution to cancer-specific challenges to healthy eating.

In the present study the investigators will test which evidence-based strategies are most effective and well-liked by patients and will inform the development of a comprehensive food security response program at the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Conditions

• Cancer
• Diet, Healthy
• Nutrition, Healthy

Interventions

OTHER

Food pantry referrals

Clients receive food for up to 21 meals per person in the household each month.

OTHER

No-prep, ready-to-eat meals

12 nutritious no-prep, ready-to-eat meals are provided each month.

OTHER

Vouchers

A $75 voucher is provided each month and participants are instructed to use the voucher to purchase food or transportation to food retailers.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Kelseanna Hollis-Hansen, PhD, MPH · UT Southwestern Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-01-08

Primary Completion

2024-09-06

Completion

2024-09-06

Countries

• United States

Study Locations