Food as medicine, community as medicine: Mental health effects of a social care intervention

Top Things to Know

Combining produce prescriptions with GMVs significantly improves depression and anxiety symptoms.

The program effectively addresses food insecurity and loneliness, enhancing overall well-being.

Including mental health conditions in eligibility criteria can optimize the benefits of food as medicine programs.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

The study assessed the mental health outcomes of the Recipe4Health program, which provided produce prescriptions with or without group medical visits (GMVs) to patients with food insecurity and nutrition-sensitive chronic conditions. Participants were primarily middle-aged women from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds. Significant improvements in depression and anxiety symptoms were observed among Food Farmacy + GMV participants, regardless of baseline mental health status. Food Farmacy-only participants showed improvements only if they did not have baseline depression/anxiety. The program also addressed social needs like food insecurity and loneliness, with varied improvements based on intervention type and baseline mental health.