Fueling Success with FOOD ACCESS SUPPORT

What happens to patients who face challenges after they leave a hospital?

TOpromote the best outcomes, Adventist HealthCare patients who would benefit from support after returning home get connected to a care navigator or case manager before they leave. These specialists partner with patients or their loved ones to take a comprehensive approach to helping people get what they need – such as scheduling a consult with a cardiologist, making an appointment for a mammogram, obtaining a grant for a wheelchair or arranging for home health services.

A consistent area of concern for patients who are returning home is food access. Recognizing that healthy food is an essential part of total wellbeing, Adventist HealthCare has donated more than $800,000 toward increasing food access across Montgomery and Prince George’s counties from 2018–2022. Through grants and partnerships with organizations that target different health disparities, Adventist HealthCare has helped build physical infrastructure, launch programs and supply both in-kind and general operating support. Adventist HealthCare also works to connect patients with the options that best address diet requirements, cultural preferences and other considerations. Check out some of the organizations and programs Adventist HealthCare has funded over the last five years to support access to nutritious food:

• Community Health and Empowerment through Education and Research (CHEER) – Support helping low-income adults with diabetes in eating better and self-managing their diabetes.

• Crossroads Community Food Network –Support of the Fresh Checks nutrition incentive program, which uses tokens to stretch federal nutrition benefits to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables.

• Feed the Fridge – Support of the placement and maintenance of a community fridge stocked daily with fresh, free nutritious meals supplied by local, small-business restaurants.

• Food & Friends – Support of nutrition counseling and education services along with medically tailored menus to those living with cancer, HIV/ AIDS, diabetes, renal disease, heart disease, ALS, Parkinson’s, COPD, multiple sclerosis and other conditions.

• Prince George’s County Food Equity Council – Support of a program connecting primary care clinics to groceries to increase access to fresh fruits and vegetables for patients with diet-related chronic diseases, in addition to launching a food rescue programs and a food security task force.

• Manna Food Center – Support of cold storage and display units to empower selection of foods to match health status, cultural traditions and familial preferences, as well as support of a vehicle to teach nutrition through cooking and to distribute food.

• Nourish Now – Support of the Multi-Cultural Mobile Food Assistance Program, which provides prepared meals and fresh produce for a family of four for five days.

• Shepherd’s Table – Support of the Food Service Program, which provides meals multiple times each day, as well as Beyond the Table, a mobile meal program.