FRAC: How Anti-Hunger Organizations Partner With Health Care Providers to Address Food Insecurity

Food security is widely recognized as a critical social determinant of health. A robust and continually expanding body of research documents how poor access to nutrition has been linked to some of the most severe and costly health problems in the U.S. There has been growing nationwide momentum for anti-hunger organizations and health care providers to partner to address food insecurity and improve health. The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) conducted a survey to assess how state and local anti-hunger organizations are partnering with health care providers, practices, organizations, and systems to address hunger with an emphasis on learning about partnerships to connect households to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This survey focused on learning about current models and activities that organizations are engaged in, as well as identifying challenges faced, and supports that would help to accelerate this work.

Summary of Key Findings

• Many state and local anti-hunger organizations are partnering with health care providers to connect patients to food and nutrition resources.
• While there are similarities across organizational approaches, there is not a standard model for these partnerships. Organizations cited a range of activities, partners, focus populations, and other key factors.
• Organizations face an array of challenges in this work, with the most common being related to staff capacity — theirs and that of their health care provider partners — and funding.
• Additional supports are needed to assist organizations with this work, particularly for funding and capacity, training, technical assistance, and peer learning. There are key opportunities to enhance this work through inputs related to the supports needed, as well as through systems change.