UVM Children’s Hospital
The University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine blog recently posted a profile of food insecurity work being done at UVM Children’s Hospital, led by Dr. Keith Robinson.
The newsworthy event that prompted the post was a donation to the onsite food pantry. However, the bigger story that’s outlined in the piece is the years of work and systems building behind this most recent phase. A few elements to highlight:
Structured food insecurity screening, using the Hunger Vital Sign screen. A food insecurity screening process, which went through several iterations, served as a foundation for these efforts. This slide deck from 2020 provides an overview of screening implementation at the hospital.
A multi-disciplinary team within the Children’s Hospital. Food insecurity was integrated into clinical work, including by discussing food as part of health planning with patients and ensuring that patient notes update providers on the results of a referral to assistance.
A multi-sector team with community partners. This includes specific training and technical assistance for particular activities like stocking the food pantry, but also built to thinking together about the larger system of food access and how that connects to health care goals. For example, on-site food options allow for immediate assistance while enrolling in federal programs like SNAP / 3SquaresVT can provide ongoing support for healthy food access. See this post on a FAHC Community Resource Roundtable in 2020 for some examples of community organizations that work with the health sector on addressing food insecurity.
Investment in ongoing quality improvement and increased impact. The blog post features the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Improving Population Health Action Community and the UVM Children’s Hospital team’s participation in task forces on social determinants of health screening tools, along with the internal teams formed for continuous improvement.
[Find additional information on food insecurity screening in Vermont here]