The Massachusetts Food is Medicine State Plan Sarah Downer, JD - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

SPEAKING WITH ONE VOICE ON FOOD AND HEALTH:

Sarah Downer, JD

Associate Director

Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation

The Massachusetts Food is Medicine State Plan

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STATE PLAN OBJECTIVES

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1. Uses publicly available data to assess the distribution of need for Food is Medicine interventions in Massachusetts, 2. Uses surveys and listening sessions to assess the distribution of access to Food is Medicine interventions in Massachusetts, and 3. Will develop a strategy, which will include metrics to measure progress, to increase the availability of Food is Medicine interventions to meet the level of need throughout the state.

The MA Food is Medicine State Plan:

Food is Medicine State Plan Video

PLANNING COUNCIL

• Alliance of Massachusetts

YMCAs

• Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA

Foundation

• Blue Cross Blue Shield of

Massachusetts

• Boston Medical Center HealthNet

Plan

• Boston Medical Center
• Boston Public Health Commission
• Brockton Neighborhood Health

Center

• Children's Health Watch
• Center for Health Law and Policy

Innovation (CHLPI)

• Commonwealth Care Alliance
• Community Health Center of

Franklin County

• Community Servings
• DentaQuest Foundation
• Elder Services of Merrimack

Valley

• Emerald Physician Services
• Executive Office of Elder Affairs
• Feeding America
• Greater Boston Food Bank
• Harvard School of Public Health
• Health Care Without Harm
• Just Roots
• Krupp Family Foundation
• Massachusetts Healthy Aging

Collaborative

• Massachusetts Department of

Transitional Assistance

• Massachusetts Food System

Collaborative

• Massachusetts League of

Community Health Centers

• Massachusetts Medical Society
• Mayor's Office of Food Access,

Boston

• Meals on Wheels America
• Minuteman Senior Services
• New England States Consortium

Systems Organization (NESCSO)

• Project Bread
• The Food Bank of Western MA
• Tufts Friedman School of

Nutrition Science and Policy

• UMass Medical School
• UMass Memorial Medical Center
• Wholesome Wave

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DATA COLLECTION

• 1. Surveys to healthcare providers, healthcare payers, and

community-based food and nutrition service organizations

• 2. Listening Sessions held across the state and to targeted

groups

• 3. In-Depth Community Member Interviews with individuals

receiving food and nutrition services

• 4. Spatial Analysis to identify areas with a high need for

Food is Medicine services

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DATA THEMES

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Healthcare Providers and Clinicians

• Food insecurity screening is not

widespread, standardized, or tracked

• Providers want to connect

patients to resources but feel constrained by time

• Providers do not know what

resources are available

• Providers want and need more

information about nutrition and health to best serve patients

Insurers

• When covering FIM services,

most often covering meals

• Believe FIM services are

beneficial to patients and to their mission

• Largely have no concrete plans

to expand services

CBOs

• FIM services are supported

primarily by (and subject to) philanthropy and other grant programs

• At current funding levels,

CBOs will be hard-pressed to change their practices or serve many more clients

• CBOs need assistance to

build capacity and expertise

• CBOs want to work with

healthcare partners

PRIORITY AREAS FOR FIM SERVICES

21 Priority Towns

Chronic disease prevalence Chronic disease acute episodes Food insecurity Low vehicle access

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STATE PLAN DEVELOPMENT (SPRING 2019)

• Responsive recommendations for coordinated action based
• n our data, especially focused on expanding capacity for

services in high priority areas.

• Recommendations for all sectors: government, private

sector, nonprofit community-based organizations, healthcare providers and payers, community advocates, philanthropy, academia.

• Guided by the community and vetted by our Planning Council

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STAY TUNED!

Sarah Downer, Associate Director Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, Harvard Law School sdowner@law.harvard.edu Jean Terranova, Director of Food and Health Policy Community Servings Jterranova@servings.org

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https://www.chlpi.org/massachusetts- food-medicine-state-plan/