Hello, my name is Elizabeth Singeling and I'm Ruth Antio, and today we'll be presenting on Fostering Wellness, Exploring Food Insecurity and Healthy Food Accessibility in the Adelante Healthcare Patient Population. Food insecurity, marked by insufficient access to nutritious food, directly impacts health outcomes. It can lead to malnutrition, increased susceptibility to diseases and chronic health conditions, particularly affecting vulnerable populations. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, in 2015, over 500,000 individuals in Maricopa County, Arizona, had limited access to grocery stores, an increase in 3% in five years. Within that population, 17% experienced food insecurity. Adelante Healthcare is a federally qualified community health center that supports patients within Maricopa County. Our project investigates food insecurity within the Adelante patient population, including those with low income and co-work conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. By investigating food insecurity within this population, we hope to aid Adelante in better understanding the needs of their patients. We also aim to empower patients to live a healthier lifestyle through increased knowledge of resources. The objectives of our study include assessing food insecurity within the Adelante patient population, analyze possible correlation between food insecurity, patient income, family dependence and health outcomes, and also to identify resources and interventions that Adelante can potentially offer to address food insecurity. The methods of our study include participants aged 18 years and older who received care within Adelante Healthcare clinic sites in Maricopa County, Arizona. Surveys were administered in English and Spanish via paper handouts in the waiting room before patients' medical appointments. The contents of the survey included a food insecurity screening, which the Hunger Vital Sign is a validated two-question screening tool used to measure household risk of food insecurity, attitudes towards food insecurity, co-existing medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, and perceived competence in purchasing and cooking healthy, nutritious foods. We were able to collect 274 survey responses, 103 in Spanish and 171 in English. The surveys were distributed by the front desk employees to patients who were willing to participate and complete the form. The data showed that 35% or 97 of our patients who completed the survey were at risk of food insecurity. We were also able to identify a significant correlation of a p-value less than 0.05, which observed correlation between food insecurity, income of less than $50,000, presence of dependence in the household, and presence of co-existing medical conditions. The survey data also demonstrated that patients have a robust interest in attending farmers' markets, as you can see in the figure on the left, and receiving information related to cooking classes, nutrition label reading classes, dietician consults, farmers' markets, and food basket programs administered by the health center, as you can see in the figure on the right. In conclusion, we were able to identify food insecure area by zip code in the Maricopa County. This will help Adelante Healthcare in the future as they continue to develop and implement targeted interventions to help their patient population. We also found that patients with more independence may face greater challenges in affording adequate amounts of nutritious food for the entire household. And we found that 74% of participants with a medical condition reported an annual household income of less than $50,000 and are food insecure. This indicates a potential association between food insecurity, low income, and chronic medical conditions, all helpful information for Adelante Healthcare as they continue to help their patient population. We also found robust interest of health initiatives offered by Adelante Healthcare, which highlights the potential effectiveness of these initiatives in helping their patients in the future as they address the food insecurity and work on living a healthier lifestyle. We would like to thank Adelante Healthcare and their employees for aiding us in supplying the surveys to patients. Thank you.

food insecurity

Adelante Healthcare

Maricopa County

chronic health conditions

nutritional initiatives