Latest / Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast / Tackling Food Insecurity with Compassion and Community Partnerships at La Rabida Children's Hospital

Transcript

Tackling Food Insecurity with Compassion and Community Partnerships at La Rabida Children's Hospital · Becker’s Healthcare -- Pediatric Leadership Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Becker's Healthcare podcast. I'm Chris
• 0:02
  Olson, and I'm thrilled to be joined today
• 0:03
  by doctor Sarah Hohen, chief medical officer at
• 0:06
  La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago, and Christina
• 0:08
  Lindboom, program director of care coordination and social
• 0:11
  work at La Rabida. Sarah and Christina, thank
• 0:13
  you for joining us today.
• 0:15
  Thank you. We're excited to be here.
• 0:17
  Excellent. Sarah and Christina, could you please just
• 0:19
  take a minute and introduce,
• 0:21
  yourselves to our audience and tell us a
• 0:22
  bit about your background?
• 0:24
  Sure. So I'm Sarah Hohen. I'm the chief
• 0:27
  medical officer here at La Revita.
• 0:30
  I'm a pediatrician
• 0:31
  by training who is board certified in critical
• 0:35
  care medicine, hospice and palliative medicine, and Genpeds.
• 0:40
  Here at Lara Vida, we have kids with
• 0:42
  complex medical needs and a lot of kids
• 0:44
  with technology,
• 0:46
  and we're really focused on how we can
• 0:48
  help our kids live their best lives while
• 0:51
  simultaneously
• 0:52
  improving our engagement with the community and those
• 0:55
  around us.
• 0:57
  And I'm Christina Lindboom. I am the program
• 0:59
  director for
• 1:00
  care coordination and social work here at La
• 1:02
  Rabida, both on the inpatient and outpatient side.
• 1:06
  I am a licensed clinical social worker for
• 1:08
  the last
• 1:10
  twenty five years,
• 1:11
  and, I have focused my career on acute
• 1:14
  hospitalization
• 1:15
  and also community mental health in my past.
• 1:18
  And our job of my teams is to
• 1:21
  focus on the psychosocial,
• 1:23
  needs of our families and the social determinants
• 1:26
  of health that affect our families on an
• 1:28
  everyday basis.
• 1:30
  Basis. Excellent. Thank you both for telling us
• 1:32
  a bit about yourselves.
• 1:33
  We are on the podcast today to talk
• 1:35
  about food insecurity in in particular.
• 1:38
  So this is something that you both are
• 1:40
  very passionate about, correcting in the Chicago area
• 1:43
  and hopefully beyond that,
• 1:45
  depending on how far your efforts can go.
• 1:47
  So,
• 1:48
  doctor Hohen, could you tell us a bit
• 1:50
  about how Larabita
• 1:52
  what address what led the hospital to address
• 1:54
  food security, and have you worked with any
• 1:56
  helpful models or partners, anything to that effect?
• 1:59
  Yeah. For sure. So one of the things
• 2:01
  we know is that living in Chicago, we
• 2:03
  know that about one in four children have
• 2:05
  food insecurity.
• 2:07
  We know that on the South Side Of
• 2:08
  Chicago and in our,
• 2:10
  immediate area
• 2:11
  where we're located, it's more like one out
• 2:14
  of three children have issues with food insecurity.
• 2:17
  I know from when we used to see
• 2:19
  patients in clinic and all different times that
• 2:22
  if you're interacting with families, a lot of
• 2:24
  the times, if people are
• 2:26
  not as willing to talk to you or
• 2:28
  they're acting shut down or you're really getting
• 2:31
  a sense of disengagement
• 2:32
  from them,
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  a lot of times what we found is
• 2:36
  that sometimes it's just literally hunger. I mean,
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  if you think about how you feel if
• 2:40
  you skipped breakfast and lunch and people talk
• 2:43
  colloquially about the word hangry. Right? Like, you're
• 2:45
  hungry and you're angry.
• 2:47
  And if you think about families that might
• 2:49
  not have enough access to food,
• 2:52
  how much just offering them a granola bar
• 2:54
  and apple juice can do to improve their
• 2:56
  engagement and improve their mood. And so I
• 2:59
  think part of it was we were seeing
• 3:01
  people,
• 3:02
  that were coming in that didn't necessarily wanna
• 3:05
  disclose that they don't have access to food
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  because it's something that's really hard for people
• 3:11
  to talk about.
• 3:12
  We know,
• 3:13
  in our work in the greater community that
• 3:15
  there's a lot of food insecurity in the
• 3:17
  area.
• 3:18
  And so what we did when we wanted
• 3:20
  to address this was we modeled this after
• 3:23
  the feed first food pantries,
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  which are a model that was created by
• 3:27
  Stacy Lindau, who's a physician at University of
• 3:30
  Chicago through the Lindau lab. And they looked
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  a lot at food deserts in the South
• 3:34
  Side Of Chicago and all the different areas.
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  And so we modeled it on this feed
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  first pantry,
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  which is literally having access just it might
• 3:43
  start with something like a bookshelf,
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  having non perishables
• 3:47
  that no one has to ask permission,
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  People have free access to it, and they
• 3:51
  can take what they need. So it was
• 3:53
  important to us
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  when we open this up that there's no,
• 3:58
  barriers to it. So people can come get
• 4:01
  a box of cereal. People can come get
• 4:03
  a jar of peanut butter and then take
• 4:05
  it home and share with their families. So
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  we did base our model here at Laravita
• 4:09
  in conjunction and in partnership with the Lindell
• 4:12
  Lab at University of Chicago, which had the
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  Feed First Pantry.
• 4:17
  Thank you so much, doctor Hillen. So, Christina,
• 4:20
  could you give us an idea of the
• 4:21
  type of feedback
• 4:22
  you've received on the program from patients as
• 4:25
  well as from Laura Bida's leadership and staff,
• 4:27
  and give us an idea of how long
• 4:28
  it's been going on and other effects the
• 4:30
  program has had?
• 4:32
  Sure.
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  Our food pantry in the outpatient clinic we
• 4:35
  located in the outpatient clinic,
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  which is a central location for both inpatient
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  and outpatient families that can have the open
• 4:42
  access to the pantry.
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  We started
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  it about two years ago,
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  but really within the last year, we've really
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  ramped it up and started actually collecting data.
• 4:53
  No really identifying information except for a ZIP
• 4:55
  code and number of individuals in the household.
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  And for about the last year, we've served
• 5:00
  about 3,500
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  individuals
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  that have signed in, and
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  about 75%
• 5:07
  of our families actually sign in on the
• 5:08
  sign in sheet.
• 5:10
  Feedback from families when we've been stocking the
• 5:12
  pantry
• 5:13
  have been
• 5:14
  fabulous. They
• 5:15
  say that it's a lifesaver.
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  They have acknowledged that this has helped stretch
• 5:19
  their food budget.
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  Most of our families are on the SNAP
• 5:23
  program or food stamps,
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  and they're able to
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  supplement their
• 5:28
  food stamp budget with our the food from
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  our pantry with our non perishable foods. So
• 5:34
  they can focus on getting
• 5:36
  more produce and fruits and vegetables and dairy
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  and meat with their actually SNAP benefits and
• 5:41
  the other pantry staples from our food pantry.
• 5:44
  Leadership has been very supportive of this, as
• 5:47
  we recognize the need. My social work and
• 5:49
  care coordination staff love the fact that we
• 5:52
  have a small food pantry
• 5:53
  for our outpatient and inpatient families that if
• 5:56
  we have a family that comes to us
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  and they're hungry and they need food that
• 6:00
  day, we have the means now to provide
• 6:02
  that to them. Because a lot of the
• 6:04
  food pantries here in Chicago, while there are
• 6:06
  numerous of them throughout all the various neighborhoods,
• 6:09
  they have very limited days and hours. So
• 6:11
  by providing food here, we're able to meet
• 6:14
  that immediate need our families have.
• 6:17
  3,500 people that you've already helped with this
• 6:19
  program sounds like a terrific start, but no
• 6:21
  doubt you would like to see it continue
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  to grow.
• 6:23
  So as we look over the next three
• 6:25
  to five years,
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  how do you see the program growing, and
• 6:28
  are there similar projects
• 6:30
  at the hospital that you would like to
• 6:31
  highlight right now?
• 6:33
  Definitely. I think one of our goals is
• 6:36
  to increase
• 6:37
  access. So in addition to the outpatient food
• 6:39
  pantry, we've started an inpatient food pantry.
• 6:42
  We know that everybody in 2025
• 6:44
  is really dealing with skyrocketing
• 6:46
  food prices.
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  We're also looking at,
• 6:49
  an employee food pantry, so we have sort
• 6:52
  of different avenues for it. I think when
• 6:54
  we think about what our goals are, you
• 6:56
  heard Christina mention about families trying to save
• 6:59
  their money for dairy and protein and fruits
• 7:02
  and vegetables.
• 7:03
  And I think what we would love to
• 7:04
  see in the future is a way
• 7:07
  to really provide more of that fresh fruits,
• 7:10
  fresh vegetables,
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  whether or not we'd be able to start
• 7:13
  a garden here. But I do think what
• 7:15
  we wanna look at over time is how
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  we can provide people more fresh fruits and
• 7:19
  vegetables
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  and more healthier options in terms
• 7:23
  of access to milk and protein and different
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  things that are super expensive and really hard
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  for families to come by. And in general
• 7:30
  none of the food pantries in the area
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  the mobile food pantries and things like that
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  so many of them focus on that Non
• 7:37
  perishables and there are so many things you
• 7:39
  don't think about right? Like if you go
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  to a food pantry and you get a
• 7:42
  box of macaroni and cheese well, you can't
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  make that macaroni and cheese unless you have
• 7:46
  milk. So giving someone a box of macaroni
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  and cheese isn't gonna help them if they
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  don't have the milk to make it with
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  when they get home. So we really wanna
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  look at how we can give them more
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  comprehensive
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  options that they can use for their whole
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  family.
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  And I would say one of the projects
• 8:03
  that we have, we partnered with Just Roots.
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  It's a local urban farm that has two
• 8:08
  urban farms here. One on the South Side
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  Of Chicago has about a half acre farm
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  within the city limits, and then it also
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  has another in Stock Village, which is the
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  South Suburb of Chicago
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  that has a three acre farm. For the
• 8:21
  last four years, we've partnered with them for
• 8:23
  what we call our fresh food pharmacy,
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  and that is able during the growing season
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  to give our families fresh produce,
• 8:32
  fruits and vegetables that are grown locally on
• 8:34
  these farms.
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  So this year, we're able to expand it
• 8:38
  to at least 30 families per session.
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  And over the last three years,
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  we've served about 535
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  families with that partnership.
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  How wonderful would it be if patients and
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  their families walk into La Rabita and see
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  a garden where a lot of these foods
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  are being grown? Hopefully, that it's only a
• 8:58
  matter of time. Obviously,
• 9:00
  the weather won't allow for certain things to
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  be grown here, but I'm sure there's a
• 9:03
  lot of progress that could be made on
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  that front. Is is that something you're you're
• 9:07
  really trying to focus on in addition to
• 9:09
  the other efforts that you're working on?
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  Oh, absolutely. We have a whole rooftop that
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  we've looked at for years and said it
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  would be a beautiful garden. So we're getting
• 9:18
  some different quotes and looking at different ways
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  we can do that. We do benefit with
• 9:23
  our partnership with the University of Chicago. They
• 9:26
  have some garden on the Top Floor
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  of their parking lot,
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  and they've been willing to share some of
• 9:33
  their fresh produce with us,
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  especially in July and August, later in the
• 9:38
  summer times. So it's amazing to see how
• 9:41
  even just a few small,
• 9:43
  garden beds can really produce a lot of
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  produce for people.
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  So that is something that we're actively looking
• 9:50
  at here, and we've been working with our,
• 9:52
  you know, the landscaping team and things like
• 9:54
  that to figure out how,
• 9:56
  best to do it. But for sure, it's
• 9:57
  one of our goals.
• 9:59
  Fresh food is really the key because it's
• 10:01
  really about how do you help people not
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  be hungry, but how do you also help
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  them be healthy.
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  And we know that when people are on
• 10:09
  food stamps and things like that, you're really
• 10:11
  trying to get where you can get the
• 10:13
  most bulk. Right? So you wanna get the
• 10:15
  cheapest food so people aren't hungry,
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  but the cheapest foods are often the least
• 10:20
  healthy food. So we really wanna look at
• 10:22
  how this intersection of health and wellness so
• 10:25
  we can make sure people
• 10:27
  have access to food so they're not hungry,
• 10:29
  but they also have access to fresh healthy
• 10:33
  foods like fruits and vegetables and dairy products
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  so they can have health and have a
• 10:38
  well balanced diet.
• 10:41
  Finally, doctor Hohen and Christina. So what advice
• 10:43
  would you give to other leaders or any
• 10:45
  other health care systems or colleagues, etcetera,
• 10:48
  who want to undertake similar efforts? Certainly, your
• 10:50
  program is not the only one out there,
• 10:52
  and maybe you can work with each other,
• 10:54
  you know, change exchange ideas and things on
• 10:57
  that front. And so what advice would you
• 10:58
  have for them?
• 11:00
  I do think our advice is that if
• 11:02
  you build it, they will come. There's a
• 11:04
  huge need for programs like this, and we
• 11:07
  know that hospitals have a duty
• 11:09
  to help their families holistically to make sure
• 11:11
  that all their needs can be met. And
• 11:14
  we know that working with the Chicago food
• 11:16
  depository, there's a lot fewer mobile food pantries
• 11:19
  than there used to be. And so we
• 11:21
  really wanna encourage people to think about how
• 11:24
  they can give their families
• 11:26
  nonjudgmental
• 11:27
  twenty four seven access
• 11:29
  to nonperishable
• 11:31
  foods and how you're really looking at what
• 11:33
  you're providing
• 11:34
  for families to help support them along the
• 11:36
  whole continuum of care.
• 11:39
  I would also say look at partnering with
• 11:41
  your different community organizations.
• 11:44
  Get your volunteer services involved.
• 11:47
  Almost all health systems have a volunteer services.
• 11:49
  Get them involved. Reach out to your community
• 11:51
  organizations that already volunteer in other aspects of
• 11:54
  the health care system and see if they
• 11:56
  would be willing to come in and stop
• 11:58
  the pantry or to donate food or to
• 12:01
  have a food drive for you. Because the
• 12:03
  more community engagement you have around this issue,
• 12:07
  the more it can be solved on a
• 12:09
  global level.
• 12:11
  Sarah, Christina,
• 12:12
  best of luck with all the efforts, including
• 12:15
  everything you're working on with,
• 12:17
  improving
• 12:18
  food insecurity, and we cannot thank you enough
• 12:20
  for being so generous with your time, your
• 12:22
  insights, your passion for this
• 12:24
  topic today, and we can't wait to share
• 12:26
  them with our audience. And, hopefully, we'll speak
• 12:28
  to you both again soon.
• 12:30
  Thank you. Thank you very much. We really
• 12:32
  appreciate this opportunity, and we're grateful for it.