Defining the role of pharmacists in food pharmacy

Top Things to Know

These results suggest that consistent access to healthy foods and nutrition support can independently improve outcomes for patients with diet-sensitive chronic diseases.

Embedding pharmacists directly into Food Pharmacy activities substantially increased patient-pharmacist interactions and visit completion rates

FIM programs may be more successful with integration of both social and clinical care.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

This retrospective exploratory cohort study evaluated 178 participants in San Francisco Health Network Food Pharmacy (FP) programs to better define the role of pharmacists in clinic-based Food Is Medicine interventions for patients with hypertension and diabetes. The researchers compared five models of pharmacist involvement and found substantial variation in patient engagement, with the Individual model achieving the highest rate of new pharmacist visits (58.3%), while the Community and No Involvement models had the lowest rates (6.3%). Despite greater pharmacist engagement in the Individual model, clinical outcomes did not differ significantly across models, and the Community model demonstrated the largest reduction in hemoglobin A1c (-1.0%) despite minimal new pharmacist involvement. Improvements in blood pressure and A1c were observed across some groups, but the study was underpowered and unable to establish clear relationships between pharmacist involvement and clinical outcomes. The findings suggest that factors such as baseline disease severity, food access, referral workflows, and patient characteristics may have a greater influence on outcomes than pharmacist involvement alone. The authors conclude that pharmacist participation in Food Pharmacy programs is feasible and may improve patient engagement, but standardized roles, recruitment strategies, and prospective research are needed to determine the most effective model.