Outcomes of disease prevention and management interventions in food pantries and food banks: a scoping review

Abstract

ObjectiveFood insecurity affects millions of Americans and is associated with a range of adverse health outcomes. Food insecure individuals often obtain food from food pantries/banks, prompting health researchers to implement disease prevention/management interventions at these sites. This review examined the existing peer-reviewed research on disease prevention/management interventions implemented in food pantries/banks.DesignScoping review.Data sourcesDatabases searched included MEDLINE, Web of Science, CINAHL and Cochrane. Search strategies included Medical Subject Headings and key terms, including food pantry, food bank, food shelf, food aid and related concepts.Eligibility criteriaStudies were included if they described an intervention involving food pantries/banks where at least one biometric indicator was included as an outcome variable. Articles focused solely on the quality of foods distributed, the diet quality of food pantry/bank clients or government food aid programmes were excluded.Data extraction and synthesisExtracted data included publication details, intervention type, study design, participant characteristics, study outcomes, and barriers and facilitators of intervention implementation.ResultsA total of 3317 articles were assessed for eligibility. Six studies met the predefined inclusion criteria. The studies employed a range of intervention approaches to manage or prevent a number of chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and HIV. The studies examined a range of biometric outcomes, including body mass index, glycated haemoglobin and blood pressure. Information about the food pantries/banks where the interventions were conducted was lacking. The studies documented multiple barriers and facilitators related to costs, sustainability and organisational capacity.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first review to examine disease prevention and management interventions conducted in food pantries and food banks. Given the high number of households who obtain food from food pantries/banks and the chronic health conditions associated with food insecurity, this review highlights the need for more high-quality research in this setting.

Barriers and Facilitators to Healthy Eating among Adult Food Bank Users

“…Our sample of 196 urban food bank users who responded to the qualitative questions consisted of mainly non-married, very low-income adults with high burden of reported chronic illness. These findings align with reported demographics of urban food bank users (Long et al, 2019; Loopstra, 2018), suggesting that food banks are highly utilized among adults with low SES status and sub-optimal physical health. Our participants reported a high burden of chronic illness such as obesity, mental illness, and chronic pain.…”

“…In addition, some participants in our study reported a need for increased knowledge on how to cook foods offered at the food bank or to purchase healthy food on a budget. Nurses could advocate for directors of food banks to offer cost-conscious, healthy cooking or food budgeting education—a strategy that has been reported as helpful in this population (Dave et al, 2017; Long et al, 2019). Nurses are well-positioned to advocate on a community, national, and global policy level for improved accessibility and affordability of healthy foods for socioeconomically disadvantaged adults using existing food bank services.…”

“…Food banks provide access to free food to individuals in an effort to alleviate food insecurity in communities (Middleton et al, 2018). Food banks are often utilized by mid-age adults of varying ethnicities with presence of chronic illness and obese body mass index (Long et al, 2019) who generally report a very low SES (Loopstra, 2018). Food bank services are viewed as especially crucial during the current coronavirus (COVID-19) global health pandemic which is causing substantial increases in unemployment and rapidly shifting SES status for many families (Power et al, 2020).…”

Link between redemption of a medical food pantry voucher and reduced hospital readmissions

“…Food pantries offer an alternative to MTMs at lower cost and without the need for staff to prepare and deliver meals. A food pantry is defined as any food organization that provides unprepared food to individuals in need ( Long et al, 2019 ). Medical food pantries (MFPs), focus on providing food packages or bags tailored to support chronic disease management and promote health rather than addressing hunger alone.…”

Hunger and Health: Taking a Formative Approach to Build a Health Intervention Focused on Nutrition and Physical Activity Needs as Perceived by Stakeholders

“…Additionally, interventions in the form of food pharmacy programs are connecting patients with food and nutrition resources within medical facilities [ 42 , 43 ]. Medical interventions are surfacing and have shown promise in food pantry settings [ 44 ]. Within the pantry setting, disease specific interventions (e.g., diabetes management interventions) have shown success among pantry clients [ 22 , 45 ].…”