WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — On Tuesday afternoons, patients with diabetes show up at CommuniCare Health Center’s Salud Clinic in West Sacramento to see a doctor.
Instead of being walked into a room for a typical appointment, staff members take patients into a room that is overflowing with locally-grown produce.
For patients, this unique visit consists of participating in a group nutrition discussion near a farm stand-style display. At the end of the visit, patients leave with their prescription; a bag filled with fresh produce.
The innovative approach “Food as Medicine,” a collaboration between Yolo Food Bank and FARM Davis, is a way to tackle the chronic disease and provide treatment for low-income, food insecure individuals.
Yolanda Turner, a Yolo County resident, began participating in the group visits shortly after being diagnosed with diabetes. “The group visits really help me financially,” Turner said. “I don’t have an excuse for not having produce now since I get it free every week. The snacks give me ideas of what I can make with the produce, and in the group we talk about how it will affect my blood sugar.”
“We know patients struggle with food security,” said CommuniCare Chief Executive Officer Melissa Marshall. “When we use food to prevent or treat chronic illness, we improve access to healthy food and empower patients to improve their health.”
Marshall’s theory is backed by research. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2011 National Health Interview Survey documented the many adverse health effects of food insecurity, from obesity and heart disease to the difficulties affording medications.
Additionally, the National Center for Biotechnology Information reported nearly 1 in 3 U.S. adults with a chronic disease has problems paying for food, medicine, or both. Confirming that an endless cycle of distributing unhealthy food doesn’t solve problems; in fact, it contributes to them.
Rates of chronic disease continue rising and traditional one-on-one medical appointments and pharmaceuticals often don't treat the root causes, Marshall explained. In the “Food as Medicine” group setting, patients learn skills, support, and confidence to manage their conditions with other patients who are also living with the disease. “It enables patients to practice the lifestyle changes discussed at the group visits,” she said.
CommuniCare Health Centers’ five locations provide health care services regardless of ability to pay to one in eight Yolo County residents, Marshall said. Most patients are low income, which means that they are almost twice as likely to develop diabetes in their lifetimes as middle-income Americans.
“This is an illuminating example of the intersection between healthy eating and active living, and disease management and treatment,” said Yolo Food Bank Executive Director Michael Bisch. “It’s our goal, over time, to meet the full food security need of the County. The ‘Food as Medicine’ relationship with CommuniCare underscores the potential,” he said.
The health center accesses produce every weekly from the Sutter Health Nonprofit Nutrition Center,located within Yolo Food Bank’s food distribution warehouse and operations facility, and from FARM Davis, a volunteer-operated farm. The staff develops a recipe based on the seasonal produce selection and prepares a healthy snack for the diabetes patients to sample during group visits, and then try at home.
Turner, an accomplished cook, likes to modify the recipes she receives at the clinic visits and make them her own. “Without the group, I would be lost,” Turner confided. “If I miss it, I feel anxious and lost.”
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