Recipient Organization
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
LOGAN,UT 84322
Performing Department
Sociology Soc Work & Anthropology
Non Technical Summary
Food insecurity continues to be a pressing social issue and its role as a contributor to poor health from an intersectional perspective, is largely unknown. An important viewpoint missing from the research in this area is the role of disability.Disability and food insecurity are not randomly distributed in the population. In terms of disability and race, African Americans and Native Americans have the highest rate of disabilities. Individuals living below the poverty line, Hispanics, African Americans, and the unemployed are more likely to be food insecure. Hence, there is an overlap between identities and experiences. These experiences are shaped by their disability status, racial discrimination, and economic inequality. Thus, my overarching inquiry is: how does the overlap of socially disadvantaged identities influence the relationship between health and food insecurity?I aim to expand the body of knowledge in this area through survey and quantitative methodology. The proposed research would allow me to fulfill USU's land-grant mission in documenting and examining a critical social issue in our state and region, identifying groups at higher risk, and potentially informing interventions to mitigate the issue. I particularly would like this knowledge to inform targeted efforts to combat food insecurity among disadvantaged populations. Any policy, program, or intervention informed by this project would contribute to public welfare.
Animal Health Component
10%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
90%
Applied
10%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Although the negative effects of food insecurity on physical, psychological, and behavioral health are becoming increasingly well-documented, risk factors for food insecurity and its associated negative health effects are understudied in households that include individuals with disabilities, particularly at the intersection with other characteristics of social disadvantage. While some studies have addressed the risk factors of disability for food insecurity among working-age adults or households with children who have a disability, no studies to date have examined the potentially deleterious effects of food insecurity in this vulnerable population, especially among individuals with other potentially marginalizing identities. In order to research the associations between food insecurity and health from an intersectional perspective, my proposed project addresses the following three objectives:1. Conduct further studies using the quantitative dataset funded by UTA-01491, a UAES seed grant ending April 30th, 2021.2. Identify an external funding mechanism to deploy a follow-up survey.3. Improve the previous survey instrument and collect a second wave of data.
Project Methods
I will use survey methodology and an array of quantitative techniques to analyze the survey data, including but not limited to, ordinary least squares regression, binomial, ordinal, and/or multinomial regression, and data visualizations.