Recipient Organization
NORTON SOUND HEALTH CORP
1000 E GREG KRUSCHEK AVE
NOME,AK 99762
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Norton Sound Health Corporation (NSHC) is comprised of 16 Federally Qualified Health Centers in Western Alasak, which provides healthcare to predominantly Alaska Native populations, with poor nutritious food access and a high burden of chronic diseases. NSHC plans to have a prescription produce program (PPR) that incentivizes the purchase of fruits and vegetables for low-income individualswho have, or are at risk for, a diet related health condition; such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity. The PPR plans to use hemoglobin A1C, blood pressure or weight to determine eligibility.NSHC has a Chronic Care Active Management Program (CAMP), which currently provides medical nutrition education, physical activity promotion and wellness challenges and is experienced with delivering other food programs with a variety of other partners.Healthcare providers will referpatients to the CAMP Department,who will manage delivery of produce, evaluate changes in fruit and vegetable intake, food security and biometric indicators, and partnerships formed. Each participant will receive fresh fruits and vegetables once per month. The prescriptions may be filled through a local vendor or through the shipment of a produce box, if a local vendor is not available due to the remote, rural location.The anticipated impact of this project is increased access to produce and, in turn, improve healthcare outcomesas evaluated by the number of refills used, nutrition related knowledgeand the individuals' follow up A1C, blood pressure and weight values, respectively.
Animal Health Component
25%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
25%
Developmental
50%
Goals / Objectives
To Reduce Food InsecurityBy the end of year 3, Norton Sound Health Corporation Prescription Produce Program will increase the number of low-income participants in the Norton Sound Region accessing fruits and vegetables, to 100 households in the Norton Sound Region.To Improve Healthcare OutcomesObjective 2.1: By the end of year 3, eligible participants in the Norton Sound Region receiving fruits and vegetables will have an increase in nutrition related knowledge.Objective 2.2: By the end of year 3, eligible participants will have a lower A1c, blood pressure and/or weight/weight maintenance.
Project Methods
Healthcare providers will refer patients with Medicaid and a diet related chronic disease to the CAMP program, who will manage delivery of produce, evaluate changes in fruit and vegetable intake, food security and biometric indicators, and partnerships formed.The CAMP Department will measurethe number of people enrolled and quantity of fruit and vegetables prescriptions received. This data will be managed by the CAMP Department staff after enrollment and eligibility criteria are verified, and prescriptions are filled. Because produce will need to be sent in a variety of ways due to our geographic location and knowing some village stores do not stock fresh fruits and vegetables, we will also track this a variety of ways. This data will be collected from partnering stores, or other entities used to send out the prescription. All participants who are enrolled into the program will receive a participant number, without any revealing personal patient information, and will be used to keep track of prescriptions received.We will provide education at each produce prescription. We willconduct pre and post surveys.As part of the enrollment process, all participants will complete a survey that collects information on how often participants have purchased fruits and vegetables in the last 6 months. Participants will complete the survey again in 6 months. This data will be compared with baseline data collected prior to dispensing the initial prescription.Patient experience/satisfaction, nutrition knowledge assessment over time & health care utilization patterns will be evaluated with these completed surveys.Wewill collect data on patient health outcomes related to diet-related health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.A1C, Blood Pressure and/or Weight will be used as a baseline. All participants will be required to have an updated A1C, Blood Pressure or weight in their electronic health record.Hemoglobin A1c levels are used to identify patients who have, or are at risk of developing, prediabetes, and diabetes by providing the average blood sugar levels of a patient over the last three months. An initial A1c test will be completed by the health aide, provider proposing the produce prescription or completed during a community screening.High blood pressure over time can lead to heart disease and other chronic diseases. Blood pressure will be gathered every 6 months of enrollment at minimum. Weight is often used as a health indicator to determine health status. Weight will be gathered every 6 months of enrollment at minimum.