# Designing veteran-centered strategies to reduce and prevent food insecurity: A veteran and community-partnered approach

> **NIH VA IK2** · MICHAEL E DEBAKEY VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Background: Food insecurity is defined as limited or uncertain access to food due to household economic
restrictions and affects 1 in 4 post-9/11 Veterans. Food insecure Veterans have increased risk for mental
health conditions like depression and suicidal ideation. Current methods to reduce food insecurity focus on
immediate food access but do little to address underlying contributors such as such as unemployment, poor
access to healthcare, and social isolation. Fortunately, the VA has services that address these underlying
contributors. Unfortunately, more than half of post-9/11 Veterans have yet to enroll in, or use, VA programs
because they lack awareness of, and/or access to, services. Community-based VSOs are critical entry points
for Veterans with unmet social needs who have yet to connect with VA services. However, we know little about
their screening practices. Like in healthcare settings, robust screening and referral processes in community
settings are imperative; otherwise, a large portion of Veterans may continue to go without food. Significance:
The proposed CDA directly responds to the VHA HSR&D’s call for research to mitigate unmet social needs of
Veterans. Mounting evidence indicates that food provision alone does not improve food security. We need a
comprehensive approach that considers underlying contributors to food insecurity. Many of the 53% of post-
9/11 Veterans not enrolled in VA services separated with low enlistment ranks and/or are women. These
characteristics place them at increased risk for food insecurity. Thus, we also need to integrate robust
screening processes to identify Veterans who are food insecure where they are—in the community; otherwise,
a significant portion of Veterans may continue to go with unmet social needs. Innovation: The need to partner
with community-based organizations, VHA, and VBA to design an intervention that will address underlying
contributors through peer-support to reduce isolation and navigate existing resources is the basis for the
research proposed in this CDA. Our study will also, to my knowledge, be the first attempt to examine how
VSOs are screening for food insecurity and other health-related social needs. Specific Aims: My long-term
career goal is to be a VA-based independent investigator recognized for implementing innovative, community-
engaged solutions that tackle food insecurity and other social determinants of health. With guidance from my
mentorship team, I aim to increase proficiency with participatory research, expand knowledge on intervention
design and evaluation, and build implementation skills to translate evidence to practice. To support these
career objectives, during the CDA I propose to: Aim 1. Design a stakeholder-informed, wrap-around
intervention to help post-9/11 Veterans who are food insecure. Aim 2. Conduct a feasibility trial of a
stakeholder-informed, wrap-around intervention designed to provide Veterans who are food insecure with peer
support and conne...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10764242
- **Project number:** 5IK2HX003444-02
- **Recipient organization:** MICHAEL E DEBAKEY VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Nipa P Kamdar
- **Activity code:** IK2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-10-01 → 2027-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10764242

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10764242, Designing veteran-centered strategies to reduce and prevent food insecurity: A veteran and community-partnered approach (5IK2HX003444-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10764242. Licensed CC0.

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