# Increasing SNAP enrollment in a diverse Latinx community

> **NIH NIH K23** · TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER · 2022 · $163,865

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract:
Health Related Social Needs (HRSN), such as food insecurity, housing quality, and access to transportation,
are key drivers of persistent and increasing health disparities. Unmet HSRN are disproportionately prevalent in
immigrant communities compared to U.S. born counterparts. Hispanic/Latinx families experience twice the rate
of food insecurity than non-Hispanic/Latinx families with higher rates among immigrant Latinx populations.
Despite the existence of evidence-based interventions to address food insecurity, health disparity populations
have often not benefited from such interventions because either necessary adaptations have not occurred or
have not been well-documented or evaluated. This career development award leverages an existing clinic-
community collaboration, the Lawrence Mayor's Health Task Force, to develop an implementation strategy to
increase enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps)
among a multicultural Latinx immigrant community. SNAP enrollment will serve as a prototype evidence-based
intervention to identify core community-driven strategies that can be used to adapt and implement additional
evidence-based social interventions. This proposal uses robust community-engaged research and
implementation science methods to identify and leverage community strengths to increase SNAP enrollment
and expand the science of implementing evidence-based interventions in diverse communities. To do so, Dr.
Byhoff proposes a career development program that blends rigorous methodologic training with an innovative
research agenda. This plan has three scientific objectives: 1) to conduct a formative evaluation to understand
stakeholder perceptions of food access, food programming, and SNAP utilization in a multicultural Latinx
immigrant community; 2) to develop an implementation strategy using the Practical Robust Implementation and
Sustainability Model (PRISM) framework and community engaged research methods to increase SNAP
enrollment; and 3) Pilot a SNAP enrollment strategy and identify the essential components for a successful
social intervention implementation among a multicultural Latinx immigrant community. In addition to advanced
training through formal coursework, this career development award is supported by an extraordinary
mentorship team, including internationally-recognized experts in health disparities research, community-
engaged research methods, and implementation science. The combination of formal training and mentored
research outlined in this application is designed to ensure that Dr. Byhoff will emerge from this award as an
independent health disparities investigator with expertise in community-engaged research and implementation
science methods.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10376265
- **Project number:** 5K23MD015267-03
- **Recipient organization:** TUFTS MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Elena Byhoff
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $163,865
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-14 → 2022-11-12

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10376265

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10376265, Increasing SNAP enrollment in a diverse Latinx community (5K23MD015267-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10376265. Licensed CC0.

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