Findhelp and GA Foods Launch Nationwide Partnership to Address Food Insecurity

The social care network findhelp recently announced a new partnership with GA Foods, a national nutrition fulfillment platform for at-risk populations. The partnership will address food insecurity nationwide by providing an easy way for findhelp customers to order and deliver medically tailored meals and nutritious meal kits to the people they serve.

"This is a great step forward for our customers addressing food insecurity. Many organizations using the findhelp platform are already innovators in the social determinants of health space, and this partnership allows them to more seamlessly connect those in need directly to resources that can provide healthy and nutritious food," says Kristi Kempe, vice president of partnerships at findhelp. “We are thrilled that GA Foods and findhelp's core values are aligned to help those experiencing food insecurity receive the dignity of a response when they’re looking for help, and to reduce the hurdles of accessing healthy food. We're excited to continue to innovate with GA Foods to support our customers and the people they serve."

People looking for help, and those who support them, conducted more than 250,000 food-related searches on the findhelp network in 2021, making food insecurity the second-highest category of need. At the same time, numerous state agencies are launching innovative new programs—in some cases taking advantage of Medicaid 1,115 waivers—to reimburse insurance companies and other organizations for providing social goods and services, such as healthy food, to people experiencing need.

findhelp and GA foods are teaming up to address the growing focus on food insecurity by efficiently connecting people who require medically tailored meals or nutritious food with meal delivery services. Through the partnership, findhelp customers can now order services from GA Foods directly from their findhelp platform in a streamlined workflow. Users can track updates, close the loop on food-related referrals, and analyze individual and aggregate data about the populations they serve. For people experiencing social needs, it’s important to quickly know whether they can receive services from a given program; findhelp’s partnership with GA Foods will provide both the dignity of a response and high-quality meals, preventing people from experiencing hunger and nutrient deficiency.

— Source: findhelp

New Program Aims to Improve Health Equity and Climate Resilience

Americares, a health-focused relief and development organization, recently announced an exciting new effort to improve health equity for US patients on the frontlines of climate change.

Americares is launching the Climate Health Equity for Community Clinics Program with a $2 million grant from Johnson & Johnson. The three-year program will strengthen the resilience of more than 100 safety net health clinics in areas where climate change disproportionately impacts the health of vulnerable communities.

“We are so grateful for Johnson & Johnson’s incredible support. Together we will advance health equity in communities experiencing the health impacts of climate change now and those at risk in the future,” says Americares President and CEO Christine Squires. “Those most affected by climate change often have the fewest resources. This gift allows us to better prepare clinics for more volatile weather and help prevent avoidable health emergencies.”

Americares will work in collaboration with the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE), Johnson & Johnson, and health care providers at participating free clinics and community health centers to design tailored interventions that meet the needs of underresourced and overworked staff. By improving clinic operations and health resilience, the program aims to protect patients’ health during heatwaves, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and other climate-related emergencies.

According to a new report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, rapid mitigation measures are needed to avoid unsustainable global warming that’s leading to deadlier storms, more intense heat waves, rising seas, and other climate-related disasters.

The World Health Organization has declared climate change the single biggest threat to humanity—putting clean air, safe drinking water, secure housing, and food supplies at risk—and projects climate change will cause an additional 250,000 global deaths annually from 2030 to 2050, largely due to malnutrition, malaria, diarrhea, and heat stress. Air pollution from fossil fuels can also cause chronic respiratory illness, such as asthma and COPD, which can have a devastating effect on health and quality of life.

“When it comes to health care, climate action is often about reducing energy use at hospitals, but with this project we’re shifting that paradigm,” says Aaron Bernstein, MD, MPH, interim director at Harvard Chan C-CHANGE. “We’re focusing on at-risk patients and the clinics that serve them in communities where health disparities are stark. We want to find ways to protect their health through interventions before climate shocks occur and, in doing so, promote health equity.”

Clinic recruitment will begin this spring with a goal of launching the project in five to 10 pilot clinics later this year. Americares will lead the recruitment of clinics that will be selected, based on the diversity of health services provided, the health disparities documented in their patient populations, and the climate risks in their respective geographic regions. The Climate Health Equity for Community Clinics Program aims to engage 100 to 150 clinics across the country by 2025.

— Source: Americares