Medically Tailored Grocery Delivery for Food Pantry Clients with Diabetes

Top Things to Know

Providing MTG directly to participants’ homes addresses transportation challenges, ensuring consistent access to diabetes-friendly foods.

Integrating culturally and linguistically adapted DSMES materials with food delivery supports behavior change beyond diet, reinforcing self-management and improving clinical outcomes.

FIM interventions may influence health through multiple pathways, including medication adherence and lifestyle behaviors, highlighting the need for holistic program design and longer-term follow-up.

Summary of Conclusion/Findings

The study evaluated a home-delivered, medically tailored grocery (MTG) intervention combined with diabetes self-management education and support (DSMES) for adults with type 2 diabetes (T2D) experiencing food insecurity. Conducted as a single-arm pre-post design with 101 participants recruited from food pantries, the intervention provided 12 weekly deliveries of diabetes-appropriate food boxes and educational materials in English, Spanish, or Marshallese. Results showed a significant reduction in HbA1c by 0.56 percentage points (P = 0.01), indicating clinically meaningful improvement in glycemic control. However, no significant change in overall diet quality (Healthy Eating Index-2015 scores) was observed. High engagement was achieved, with 97% of participants receiving all deliveries and most reporting satisfaction and perceived benefits. The findings suggest that MTG interventions can improve glycemic outcomes even without measurable changes in diet quality, possibly due to combined effects of food access and DSMES.