Progress 06/01/21 to 05/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:SuperSNAP serves SNAP beneficiaries who are food insecure and are diagnosed with a diet-related chronic condition. Participants are enrolled into SuperSNAP through 9 participating Federally Qualified Health Centers across North Carolina. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?RP disseminates results to communities of interest regularly through outreach calls and presentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?RP will continue to distribute nutrition assistance benefits through SuperSNAP through the Spring of 2022, which is the end of the grant.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
In 2021, SuperSNAP distributed just over $537,000 to 2500 participants. This increased the affordability of fruits and vegetables among participants. RP continued to strengthen our relationships with FQHCs through this work. 80% of all enrolled participants used their benefits to try new foods and new ways of eating. RP replicated the SuperSNAP model with other agencies including the state and private health plans.
Publications
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Progress 06/01/18 to 05/31/22
Outputs
Target Audience:SuperSNAP is designed to address the cost of healthy food to improve health outcomes for SNAP recipients who have very limited money to spend on food. The program served the following NC counties: • Gaston • Lincoln • Iredell • Davidson • Catawba • Forsyth • Orange • Chatham • Alamance • Caswell • Bertie • Hertford • Alleghany • Ashe • Watauga • Polk • Transylvania • Wilkes • Surry • New Hanover Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We distributed information to community health partners, state legislatures, philanthropic partners. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Increase the affordability of fruits and vegetables to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables and establish healthier eating habits. 1. The program offered up to $40 per month in matching funds to 2,512SNAP recipients for the purchase of fruits and vegetables. 2. The program helped 2,512SNAP recipients buy and consume fruits and vegetables costing $971,275.79. 3. The program enrolled 2,512 SNAP recipients through community health centers to help establish the "food as health" connection. Increase awareness of healthy eating principles and strategies. 1. The program partnered with Federally Qualified Health Centers, public health departments, and other health programs that serve low-income communities to offer wraparound services to help participants increase awareness of healthy eating principles and strategies and work toward the larger goal of improved health. Increase awareness of barriers to healthy eating. 1. The program used community based focus groups to better understand barriers to healthy eating for low-income residents. 2. The program betterunderstood the challenges participants faced and adapted SuperSNAP to make it easier for participants to make healthy food choices. 3. The program shared learnings with health and food security agencies.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2021
Citation:
Berkowitz SA, Curran N, Hoeffler S, Henderson R, Price A, Ng SW. Association
of a Fruit and Vegetable Subsidy Program With Food Purchases by Individuals
With Low Income in the US. JAMA Network Open. 2021 Aug 2;4(8):e2120377.
doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.20377. PMID: 34379125; PMCID: PMC8358732
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Foundation. (2022). Reinvestment Partners Case Study. https://www.bcbsncfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Reinvestment-Partners-Case-Study-April-2022.pdf
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Progress 06/01/20 to 05/31/21
Outputs
Target Audience:SuperSNAP serves patients of North Carolina Federally Qualified Health Clinics who receive SNAP benefits and are receiving care for diet-related chronic illness. We significantly expanded our care provider partnerships during this reporting period and enrolled over 7300 new eligible participants into SuperSNAP in 2020. Changes/Problems:During COVID, we receivedCARES Act funds to expand SuperSNAP. We formed a new partnership with a statewide care management agency to enroll SNAP beneficiaries across North Carolina. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?
Nothing Reported
How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?A manuscript is currently under review in JAMA Open which presents preliminary findings from our project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Keep on keeping on.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Increase the affordability of fruits and vegetables to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables and establish healthier eating habits. We have distributed approximately $408,000 to over 7,000 SNAP beneficiaries in this reporting period. Independant evaluation of SuperSNAP has found that participants spend approximately $35 of their alloted $40/per month. Participants double their fruit and vegetable purchases while on the program and decrease their purchase of unhealthy items, especially sugar-sweetened beverages. Increase awareness of healthy eating principles and strategies. Participants report a 94% satisfaction rate with our program. Participants report that SuperSNAP helped them and their families eat healthier, try new foods, and change food purchasing behavior. Increase awareness of barriers to healthy eating. We have learned that participants struggle with "loading" funds onto their MVP cards by making a transaction with their SNAP EBT card. Future programming will be informed by this.
Publications
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Progress 06/01/19 to 05/31/20
Outputs
Target Audience:SuperSNAP serves patients of North Carolina Federally Qualified Health Clinics who receive SNAP benefits and are receiving care for diet-related chronic illness. Changes/Problems:We have made improvements to our enrollment portal that makes the enrolling process more efficient and clearer. COVID-19 has challenged our program, as many clinics closed or operated reduced hours during the pandemic. We successfully worked with clinics to enroll patients over the phone so that patients avoided in-person contact at clinics. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We train enrollers at clinics on our technology platform. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We send a newsletter to partners that shares program news. We participate in regular calls with multiple stakeholder groups to share information. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to strengthen relationships with clinic staff and enroll more patients into the SuperSNAP program.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Increase the affordability of fruits and vegetables to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables and establish healthier eating habits. Our program and technology platform have enrolled 1,028clinic patients with $40 per month for the purchase of fruits and vegetables. To date, participants have spent $71,049.78 on WIC-approved fruits and vegetables at Food Lion stores. Our program is helping people eat healthy foods that they normally would not have had access to. Increase awareness of healthy eating principles and strategies. All of the Federally Qualified Health Centers that enroll patients in SuperSNAP also offer nutrition education or counseling to SuperSNAP participants. SuperSNAP participants not only receive funds for healthy foods, but they also receive information about how healthy eating improves their health. ?Increase awareness of barriers to healthy eating. We work closely with clinics to understand how our program can better fit the needs of their patients. We routinely solicit feedback from clinics about how to improve our program and help patients eat better.
Publications
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Progress 06/01/18 to 05/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:SuperSNAP will serve patients of North Carolina Federally Qualified Health Clinics who receive SNAP benefits and are receiving care for diet-related chronic illness. The program is still in development and has not issued any funds to patients. Changes/Problems:As with our prior USDA FINI grant, we have changed the dissemination structure from a 1:1 SNAP:FINI match to alloting $40 each month after the first SNAP EBT purchase of every month at a participating Food Lion. Food Lion's POS technology was unable to provide a 1:1 match. This change was approved by USDA program staff. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Reinvestment Partrners has had multiple opportunities to share our work with the leadership of North Carolina's Dept of Health and Human Services. We have consulted on DHHS's changes to the state Medicaid program. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?
Nothing Reported
What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We continue to encourage Food Lion to complete the technology fixes needed to start implementing SuperSNAP. We expect these corrections to be completed and to roll out the program in the next reporting period.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Goal 1: We have worked diligiently with Food Lion to refine the technological process for loadingand redeeming the benefit funds. We also are working with Food Lion to eliminate discrepencies in the transaction data we recive. We are waiting until these items are complete before we begin distributing SuperSNAP benefits. Goal 2: We have had multiple meetings with our health partners to discuss program goals and implementation strategies. We have distributed educational materials to help explain to patients how the program works. Goal 3: We have not started working towards this goal yet.
Publications
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