PhD Defense Seminar: Food and Resources Expanded to Support Health and Type 2 Diabetes for Food Insecure Individuals

Presented by Eliza Short, RDN

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a serious diet-related chronic disease affecting more than 10% of the US population. Social and environmental factors, such as the limited access to food due to a lack of money or other resources (i.e., food insecurity), greatly affect the management and long-term consequences of this diet-related disease. There are few food-based diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) interventions for food insecure individuals with T2DM. To address this gap, the Food and Resources Expanded to Support Health (FRESH) Study was conducted in partnership with a regional food bank and a federally qualified health center. The purpose of FRESH was to develop and test the feasibility and acceptability of a food-based DSMES intervention to improve management of T2DM for food insecure community members. The multiphase study produced a food + educational intervention tailored to food bank client preferences and needs, and an evaluation of intervention feasibility and acceptability with regard to nutrition and diabetes outcomes in food insecure patients at a federally qualified health center. FRESH was a feasible and acceptable program for individuals managing the competing challenges of food security and T2DM. Future larger studies will test the efficacy of FRESH on T2DM management outcomes in a definitive randomized clinical trial.