Recipient Organization
YUKON-KUSKOKWIM HEALTH CORPORATION
829 HOSPIN HWY STE 329
BETHEL,AK 99559
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The YKHC service area is approximately the size of Oregon state and is not on a road system, making the coordination of services and access to resources challenging. Due in large part to transportation challenges, the logistics involved in getting produce to communities throughout the region in a reliable and affordable fashion prevents many families from purchasing fruits and vegetables. In addition to the high cost of food, this region sees some of the highest poverty levels in the nation. YKHC's service area overlaps with three census areas - Kusilvak, Bethel, and Yukon-Koyukuk. According to the Percent of Households that Receive Food Stamps/SNAP - United States - County by State report from 2017, the Kusilvak Census area had the highest percentage of households receiving SNAP benefits in the nation, excluding Puerto Rico, at 58%. Bethel census area ranked number eleven at 39.2% and the Yukon-Koyukuk ranked thirty third with 33.4%. It is believed that providing financial incentives for purchasing fruits and vegetables would help to mitigate the negative health affects created, in part, by the high cost of living and high poverty rates in this region. In so doing, we anticipate increased overall health in the participants of this program. To evaluate the impact of this prescription produce program on participants' health, YKHC will be collecting surveys as well as lab values that assess blood sugar levels from participants. The surveys will evaluate changes in knowledge and behavior, while the blood sugar levels will measure a change in the actual health condition of the participant. The anticipated outcome is for the surveys to reflect increased knowledge on how to purchase fruits and vegetables on a budget, how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in meals, and whether or not participants' shopping/food consumption habits have changed over the course of their participation. For the blood sugar values, theanticipated outcome is to see a decrease in average blood sugar values for participants, correlated to the number of prescriptions received and educational opportunities that participants engage in.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
YKHC's program is intended to improve the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods in a region that historically has limited access based on transportation and logistical complications in addition to limited agricultural production and an overall high cost of living, all of which threaten food security, diminish dietary adequacy and diversity, and ultimately overall health.The goals of this current "enhancement opportunity" to YKHC's PPR project are to continue to improve fruit and vegetable intake, reduce food insecurity, and improve health and related healthcare utilization costs. For this 2022 Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program Produce Prescription Program, we plan to expand PPR eligibility to include people that are SNAP and/or Medicaid eligible, that reside within the YK Delta, and have DM, pre-DM, gestational DM, or are at high risk of developing DM.
Project Methods
Method: Patients will be seen for appointments at their local clinic. If it is found that a patient is at risk for developing diabetes, or diagnosed with diabetes, and is covered by Medicaid then they will be eligible for participation in this program. Eligible participants must have their A1c values tested before they receive a referral to the diabetes department for a prescription for produce. The diabetes department will verify eligibility and, when appropriate, provide a prescription for FV in the form of a food voucher worth $45 that can be redeemed with participating vendors or coordinate the delivery of FV directly to the participant. The participant will be eligible for prescription refills that can be redeemed congruent to the method used to redeem the initial prescription. Participants will be able to receive FV at minimum quarterly, with an idea frequency of once per month. Participants will be requested to complete hemoglobin A1C testing semi-anually up to quarterly depending upon current health conditions.Efforts: Classes and educational opportunities will be provided to participants in an effort to promote change in knowledge and actions. Educational materials will be included with vouchers and box deliveries. The anticipated result is a change in conditions, mainly, lower A1c values compared to baseline A1cs.Evaluation: Results of this program will be analyzed by looking at the number of prescription refills redeemed per participantand the subsequent A1c values compared to baseline data. Additionally, surveys will be collected evaluating changes in actions regarding what items participants are purchasing at the store and how frequently. Success will be measured with majority of participants seeing a 0.5% decrease in their A1c values.