Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Food insecurity and health care: addressing food insecurity through the health care system in New York
Food insecurity and health care: addressing food insecurity through the health care system in New York
Health-related social needs, such as access to secure food, housing, and employment, are increasingly recognized as fundamental contributors to the health and well-being of communities. While systemic inadequacies to food access predated the COVID-19 pandemic, the magnitude of need has been exacerbated. Health care organizations are more broadly investing in efforts to address unmet social needs, including food insecurity, to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities. United Hospital Fund and Boston Consulting Group partnered in 2021 to quantify the health impact of food insecurity on New Yorkers and review potential solutions to alleviate the burden on families and individuals. This analysis is broken into three parts. The first part measures the scale of food insecurity in New York. Part 2 assesses the role that the health care system plays in addressing food insecurity, including a financial impact analysis of food insecurity on health. Part 3 reviews potential policy and programmatic interventions that health care stakeholders could take to reduce New Yorkers' food insecurity. Food insecurity cannot be solved by health care organizations alone, especially as some of the root causes relate to long-standing inequitable policies and practices, but their engagement and collaboration is critical to helping to alleviate the immediate need for New Yorkers. We hope this analysis provides policymakers and community leaders with data to support the development of these necessary strategies and policies. Please contact Catherine Arnst, Director of Public Information at UHF, with any questions or comments: carnst@uhfnyc.org or (212) 494-0733.
Copyright:
Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)