Network of health systems and food organizations addressed food insecurity
A pilot program enabled clinicians to post requests for food delivery on recipients' behalf. Requests were reviewed and claimed by eligible organizations that prepared food boxes, delivered in a median of five days.
Centralized platforms can address food insecurity by streamlining partnerships between health systems and community organizations for food delivery, a pilot program showed.
Researchers developed and evaluated Food Access Support Technology (FAST), a centralized digital platform for food access that pairs health systems with food and delivery organizations.
The program enrolled two health systems, 12 food partners, and two delivery partners in Philadelphia. Referrers in the health systems could post requests for food delivery on recipients' behalf, which were reviewed and claimed by eligible organizations that prepared food boxes for delivery to people's homes. Results of the program were published July 10 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Between March 2021 and July 2022, FAST received 364 requests, representing 207 food-insecure households in 51 postal codes. Of these requests, 258 (70.9%) were filled by 12 food partners and two delivery partners. The remaining were classified as in the process of completion (8.0%), canceled (15.7%), or unfulfilled because recipients were unreachable (5.5%). Almost a third (31%) of requests were for unprepared food, and 9.6% were for prepared meals. The remaining requests were for delivery only and were primarily from a community organization. Most requests were for a one-week (26.1%) or two-week (44.0%) supply of food, although requests were completed for more than 10 weeks' worth of food. Almost half (45.1%) of requests were marked as urgent.
Requests for food were completed in a median of 5 days (interquartile range [IQR], 0 to 7 days). Food and delivery partners typically claimed requests in less than a day with delivery itself completed in a median of 3 days. Requests for prepared meals took longer to complete than requests for unprepared food (7 days [IQR, 3 to 10] vs. 5 days [IQR, 0 to 22.5]). Partners completed requests marked as “urgent” in 1.5 days compared to 6 days for nonurgent requests. Qualitative analysis showed month-to-month variability in completion time for the first six months of FAST, likely the result of early troubleshooting during the initial rollout and then fine-tuning the platform, the study authors said.
Qualitative interviews with FAST users endorsed the usability of FAST and its effectiveness at sharing resources between partners. The study authors noted that FAST relied on the quality, efficacy, and cooperation of its partners. “While the platform can seek to optimize resources among [community-based organizations], FAST by itself cannot address the root of inequities in race, geography, and funding underlying food access,” they wrote.