âFood Pharmaciesâ In Clinics: When The Diagnosis Is Chronic Hunger
Thereâs a new question that anti-hunger advocates want doctors and nurses to ask patients: Do you have enough food?
Public health officials say the answer often is ânot really.â So clinics and hospitals have begun stocking their own food pantries in recent years.
One of the latest additions is Connectus Health, a federally qualified health clinic in Nashville, Tenn. This month, part of LaShika Taylorâs office transformed into a community cupboard.
âItâs a lot of nonperishables right now, just because weâre just starting out,â she said, but the clinic is working on refrigeration so it can also stock fresh food.
Itâs not that patients are starving, Connectus co-director Suzanne Hurley said. Itâs that they may have a lot of food one day and none the next. Thatâs no way to manage a disease like diabetes, she said.
âI can prescribe medications all day, but if they canât do the other piece â which is a decent diet and just knowing theyâre not going to have to miss meals,â she said, âmedications have to be managed around all of those things.â
Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, a local food bank, is encouraging more health care providers to consider on-site pantries. The food bank also wants every patient â not just those suspected of being low income â to be asked about their food situation.
âWeâre really pushing for universal screening, so youâre not picking who youâre asking that question to. The doctor already asks you really personal questions, and we donât think twice about it,â said Caroline Pullen, Second Harvestâs nutrition manager. âI think people have always been scared to ask this question because they didnât really have the resources of where to send them.â
âFood insecurity,â as itâs known, has become a particular concern among seniors. The anti-hunger group Feeding America  that more than 5 million older Americans donât have enough food to lead a healthy life â a figure that has doubled in the last two decades.
In response, food banks are increasingly meeting seniors where they get their health care. Hospitals from ĚýłŮ´ÇĚý are sending patients home with food.
Trudy Hoffman now gets free groceries at her monthly visits to Nashville General Hospital.
âThey just asked me, did I want a bag of food to carry home?â she recalled. âAnd I said, âYeah.ââ
Trudy Hoffman receives monthly infusions at Nashville General Hospital and now goes home with a bag of nutritious food to help stretch her budget and keep her fed.(Blake Farmer/Nashville Public Radio)
The city-funded hospital started its pantry just for cancer patients in recent years but opened it to all patients this year and  in October to fund its expansion.
Organizers call it a âfood pharmacy,â following the lead of places like , with patients getting a âprescriptionâ for what to pick up. Some shelves have high-calorie superfoods for cancer patients to keep their weight up. Others have low-sugar staples for people with diabetes and low-sodium items for patients with hypertension.
, who oversees the Nashville General Hospital Foundation, said no one is surprised to see dozens of patients using the pantry each day.
âBecause when youâre in a place like ours, where 40% of the folks canât even afford their health care, you can imagine the choices theyâre making,â she said â such as deciding whether to pay for food, utilities or medicine.
The pantry operates mostly with grant funding. So Rose said the biggest challenge now is keeping it fully stocked with important but more expensive items like fresh produce and spices, which can be used to help patients keep some flavor while reducing salt in their diet.
This story is part of a partnership that includes , and Kaiser Health News.