If You Prescribe It, Will They Come? An Initial Evaluation of a Hospital-Based Food Prescription Program in Under-Resourced Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Patients With Food Insecurity

Top Things to Know

Simply prescribing healthy food is insufficient; programs must include follow-up and strategies to overcome barriers, similar to medication adherence protocols.

Transportation, storage solutions, and culturally appropriate foods are essential for FIM programs to be effective and equitable.

Treat food prescriptions as part of the care plan for chronic conditions, ensuring monitoring and patient education to improve utilization and health outcomes.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

This practice brief evaluated a hospital-based Food Prescription Program (FPP) for metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) patients experiencing food insecurity. Among 55 referred patients, 90.9% visited the clinic at least once, and 83% returned, with a median of 5.5 visits out of 26 prescribed. Program strengths included staff helpfulness, food quality, language accessibility, and convenient location. However, barriers such as health issues, transportation challenges, limited operating hours, inadequate food supply, and inability to store or reheat food were frequently reported. Cultural appropriateness of foods and ease of parking were also noted as areas for improvement. The study concluded that prescribing nutritious foods does not guarantee adherence, and compliance should be managed similarly to medication prescriptions, with follow-up and support to address barriers.