Screening for Food Insecurity in Six Veterans Administration Clinics for the Homeless, June–December 2015

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  O’Toole, Thomas P. ; Roberts, Christopher B. ; Johnson, Erin E.
• Description:
  Objective ; We assessed findings from a food-insecurity screening of a national sample of Veterans Administration clinics for homeless and formerly homeless veterans. ; Methods ; We reviewed results from initial screenings administered at 6 Veterans Administration primary care clinics for the homeless and responses from clinic staff members interviewed about the screening program. ; Results ; A total of 270 patients were screened. The average age was 53 years, and most were male (93.1%). Screening showed a high prevalence of food insecurity. Of the 270, 48.5% reported they experienced food insecurity in the previous 3 months, 55.0% reported averaging 2 meals a day, and 27.3% averaged 1 meal a day. Eighty-seven percent prepared their own meals, relying on food they bought (54.2%), help from friends and family (19.1%), and soup kitchens and food pantries (22%); 47.3% received Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (food stamps). Additionally, of those who screened positive for food insecurity 19.8% had diabetes or prediabetes, and 43.5% reported hypoglycemia symptoms when without food. Clinic staff members responded positively to the screening program and described it as a good rapport builder with patients. ; Conclusions ; Integrating screening for food insecurity among patients in clinical settings was well received by both patients and health care providers. Addressing these positive findings of food insecurity requires a multidisciplinary health care approach.
• Subjects:
  • Special Topic
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 14.
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd14.160375
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  28084988
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC5234439
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Volume:
  14
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/43968/cdc_43968_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 239.38 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bc86cffa94dac282d4d964e0f0fd8826fa0727822ee10b93e965556ce1d78612f4a1095b0312fc84630930f54da2e50d8eccfc621c16fd18b6a3bb61323afe95