Presbyterian Health contributes to improved health of communities in New Mexico through the expansion of its Northern Roots food as medicine program.
Presbyterian Health in New Mexico is committed to improving nutrition and food access to ensure patient health. While proper nutrition is key to overall well-being, many communities lack access to healthy food options. Presbyterian Health aims to close the nutrition gap through its food as medicine programs.
“In 2021, we began universal screening of all Presbyterian patients for social determinants of health (SDOH) that include questions on whether they are experiencing food insecurity, transportation, housing, violence, substance use and other social needs,” said Carrie Thielen, director of regional community health, Presbyterian Healthcare Services. “So far, we have completed 2 million screenings and found that food insecurity is one of the most common needs.”
Food is medicine
Without proper nutrition, the body cannot function properly, and health suffers. Often, communities lack access to nutritious food for various reasons including distance, availability, and economic barriers. However, eating a healthy and well-balanced diet is critical to a patient’s overall health.
“Food is medicine and people cannot be healthy without access to healthy food. We recognize that healthy food is critical to preventing and treating chronic illness, such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as helping children be able to come to school ready to learn and be successful,” according to Thielen.
Food prescription programs provide communities with readily available and affordable fresh produce. Presbyterian Health’s Northern Roots program supplements clinical care through nutrition by removing financial barriers to purchasing fresh produce and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption. By providing access to healthy foods, patients’ experience lower blood pressure and risk of heart disease.
Participants in the program have benefitted greatly, with 90% of participants saying Northern Roots increased their ability to provide healthy food for their family, and 66% saying their fruit and vegetable consumption increased “a lot,” according to a March 2023 press release from Presbyterian Health.
Future expansion of Northern roots
The New Mexico Department of Health and the Brindle Foundation provided Presbyterian Health with over $200,000 in 2022 to assist with the expansion of food prescription programs.
The funding will allow Presbyterian to expand nutritious food offerings and connect the community to nutrition education. The program also “provides wrap-around support for participants, such as connecting them to WIC programs, providing healthy recipes and cooking demonstrations, and additional support through a community health worker,” according to Thielen.
Additional funding to food prescription programs will allow Presbyterian Health to expand produce prescriptions to other communities as well such as Socorro and the South Valley in New Mexico.
“We are excited to expand food prescriptions programs to reach more families with children, thanks to additional funding from the state, private grants and extensive support from our own health plan, Presbyterian Health Plan,” according to Thielen. This expanded programming will include more families in Northern New Mexico, as well as rural communities in other parts of the state.”