Implementation of Innovative Food Prescription Programs in Older Adults

Summary

In the USA, about 10% of grown-ups have a hard time finding healthy food, like fruits and vegetables. It's even harder for older grown-ups who might be sick and find it tricky to move around, which makes it tough to get healthy food. The investigators are trying to fix this by testing two new ways to help older people (aged 65 and up) get nutritious food. The investigators are getting lots of help and ideas from older adults to make these ways work the best they can.

The study is happening at the Erie County Medical Center (ECMC) in the East Side of Buffalo, NY, where many African Americans live. This place hasn't been treated fairly, so there aren't many places to buy fresh fruits and vegetables in the local stores. On the ECMC campus, there are three clinics that can help people who can't easily get healthy food. Every participant in our study will be put into one of three programs, each lasting 12 weeks, and they will get food every week.

In the "usual care" program, a doctor writes an order, and the participant gets a voucher to buy more fruits and vegetables at a market or store.

In the "delivery of a produce prescription box" program, a box of fruits and vegetables is brought to the participant's home. The participant can pick what they like online or by calling a helper. If they don't pick, they get a regular box.

In the "delivery of a meal kit box" program, the participant gets the ingredients for three meals in a box. The participant can pick three meals they like online or by calling. If the participant doesn't pick, three meals will be chosen for the participant.

For the second and third programs, participants will get messages to remind the participant when to choose their food, when the time to choose is almost up, and when their food is on its way. If a participant can't use messages or the internet, they can call a helper for support. The investigators believe the study will show that these ways can help older adults who have a hard time getting food to eat more fruits and vegetables. The investigators will also find out which way works best compared to the usual way in the Buffalo, NY area.

Conditions

• Food Preferences
• Food Habits

Interventions

OTHER

Produce Prescription Delivery

Fruit and vegetable box delivery

OTHER

Healthy Meal Kit Delivery

Ingredients to cook healthy meals delivered to home

OTHER

Produce Prescription Mobile Market

Voucher to purchase fruits and vegetables at a mobile market

Sponsors & Collaborators

• American Heart Association

  collaborator OTHER

• University at Buffalo

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Lucia Leone, PhD · University at Buffalo

• Jill Tirabassi, MPH, MD · University at Buffalo

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-09-09

Primary Completion

2025-02-17

Completion

2025-02-17

Countries

• United States

Study Locations