In 2022, stories of isolated seniors with little to no access to transportation or healthy food began to reach the ears of Arkansas Rural Health Partnership senior leadership. By January 2023, the organization launched a two-year pilot project (funded by the USDA Delta Healthcare Services Grant) to test the innovative concept that food choices impact health outcomes.
The Model. Two primary care practices in southeast Arkansas (Lake Village Clinic & Mainline Health Systems) were selected to serve as the preliminary pilot sites. Chronic care management teams conducted social determinant of health screenings with existing patients and then referred a total of 60 eligible individuals to the pilot program (seniors age 65+ with chronic disease experiencing food insecurity). Participants are provided with healthy food (groceries or prepared meals depending onsite), nutritious recipes & cooking classes (remote). Local nursing students offer participants one-on-one patient education, coaching, and connection to resources.
Remote patient monitoring devices capture relevant health informatics, which is utilized by the primary care team (including the chronic care case managers) to improve service delivery and related health outcomes. Virtual exercise classes will be added to increase mobility and social connectedness among pilot participants.
The first ARHP Good Food Rx was launched in Lake Village, AR in early 2023. Located at the ARHP headquarters, ARHP staff prepare healthy meals in a commercial-grade teaching kitchen. Staff then deliver the meals to seniors and provide social determinants of health interventions as needed and relevant.
Results of the pilot to date (March 2023-July 2024):
The Good Food Rx model is designed to adapt to the specific needs of local rural communities while building upon the existing capacity and infrastructure of partner organizations (i.e. non-profits, hospitals, federally qualified health centers, etc.). Staff providing food delivery are cross-trained as community health workers and their interactions with seniors include social determinants of health interventions (i.e. access to vital health and health-social resources and care). Services could be reimbursed by Medicare and private insurers as an aspect of chronic care management for their most vulnerable patients (and often highest utilizers).
In January 2025, ARHP will open The Good Food Rx at the ARHP Administrative Office in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Additional sites are also in development for McGehee, Crossett, Fordyce, and Warren, Arkansas.
