# CommunityRx for Hunger - Resubmission 01

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2021 · $687,340

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Food insecurity is a prevalent, modifiable and overlooked determinant of health and health disparities along
socioeconomic and racial lines in the United States. Lower income caregivers (parents, custodial grandparents,
legal guardians) of children with illness requiring hospitalization are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity due
to healthcare costs and prioritizing food for the child. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the
American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Academy of Medicine and others are calling for healthcare-based
screening and intervention to address food insecurity, endorsing growing evidence about the deleterious effects
on health and healthcare. Most caregivers and healthcare providers endorse that it is acceptable for providers
to address food insecurity and related needs, yet physicians rarely screen or make referrals for these needs.
Barriers include concerns about compromising caregiver or patient satisfaction by causing feelings of stigma and
providers' lack of knowledge about food insecurity. The proposed mixed-methods research will fill a gap in
knowledge about how best to intervene to support food insecure caregivers. We will conduct a double-blind
randomized controlled trial to test the effect of the CommunityRx-Hunger (CRx-H) intervention on caregiver and
child health outcomes over 12 months. CRx-H leverages hospital discharge processes used to prepare
caregivers to care for an ill child, including education and activation of self- and family management strategies.
Caregivers of hospitalized children will be screened for food insecurity, stratified by food security status, and
randomized to either usual care (UC) or CRx-H. UC includes a hospital admission packet with information about
food resources in the hospital. In addition to UC, CRx-H includes, at discharge: a brief educational intervention
about food insecurity and common co-occurring needs, information about quality community resources for food
and other support, and text messages from a community resource navigator over 90 days post-discharge. The
specific aims of this research are to: (1) Evaluate the effects of CRx-H versus UC on food insecure caregiver
self-efficacy, caregiver and child food insecurity, and adult and child health outcomes; (2) Among food secure
and insecure caregivers, evaluate the effects of CRx-H versus UC on caregiver satisfaction with care and stigma;
(3) Qualitatively assess food insecure caregivers' perspectives about: (a) their experiences with and attitudes
toward the CRx-H intervention, (b) the role of stigma as a barrier to self- and family management, and (c) how
healthcare providers can sensitively and effectively intervene to support food insecure caregivers.. Our objective
is to improve self- and family management among food insecure caregivers with an ill child. The long-term goal
of this work advances the mission of the NIMHD by generating evidence on public health practices...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10079401
- **Project number:** 5R01MD012630-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Stacy Tessler Lindau
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $687,340
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-04 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10079401

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10079401, CommunityRx for Hunger - Resubmission 01 (5R01MD012630-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10079401. Licensed CC0.

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