Utah residents who have difficulty keeping their families fed could be missing a key ingredient: information. A University of Utah Health study finds that poor communications could be hampering efforts in at least 22 Utah communities to connect those in need with food stamps, 食物银行, 流动厨房和其他食物资源. 研究ers say the finding could help refine future community food distribution efforts.
这是首个此类研究，发表在 美国预防医学杂志, pinpoints previously undetected areas in the state where a lack of information about 食物银行, 汤厨房, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) –commonly known as food stamps –is derailing efforts to alleviate food insecurity in Utah. Food insecurity is defined as the limited or uncertain availability of acquiring safe and nutritional food.
“Our findings offer a unique picture of food needs in our state than has been previously available,Nasser Sharareh说, Ph.D., lead author of the study and a postdoctoral research associate in the department of population health sciences. “It clearly suggests that future efforts to combat food insecurity in Utah should include better use of media and other communications channels to improve awareness of referral services that help people learn more about SNAP and other emergency food providers in their communities.”
About one in eight households in Utah struggle to provide food for their families, 根据食品 & 研究行动中心是一个全国性的反饥饿倡导组织. In October 2019, more than 165,000 Utahans participated in SNAP, according to the U.S. 农业部.
在过去, 食物资源的可获得性或可获得性, 比如杂货店, 以及个人或家庭购买食物的能力, 粮食不安全的两个关键指标是什么. However, these traditional indicators may not fully reflect the scope of the problem.
To determine what role information – or the lack of it – has on requests for food assistance in the state, Sharareh and his colleagues tracked SNAP enrollment in 99 Utah communities for a year. 然后, they correlated that data with food information requests received from those communities by United Way 211 (UW211), 非营利性紧急服务转介热线.
Using data analysis and a geographic information system (GIS) method, the researchers identified four clusters of communities (total number in parenthesis).
- 粮食安全（63） SNAP的入学率和UW211的通话率都很低. Residents likely have little or no need for food assistance programs or information about them. 这些城市包括帕克城，圣. 乔治，摩根和韦伯.
- 粮食不安全（14） SNAP enrollment and UW211 call rates are high; residents are in great need of food assistance programs and information about them. These areas include downtown Salt Lake City, Rose Park, and 格兰岱尔市.
- 信息沙漠（11） -低SNAP入学率，但UW211电话率高. Residents might not be aware of SNAP and have little or no knowledge of other community food resources. 在这些“沙漠”中,UW211是一个重要的“绿洲”,” referring information-starved callers to community food resources that they were previously unaware of. 这些地区包括糖的房子、The Avenues、Holladay和West Jordan.
- 信息不确定（11） -高SNAP参与，低UW211呼叫率. 居民使用SNAP，但可能不知道UW211. 单凭SNAP可能就能满足他们现有的需求. 这些地区包括碳县、埃默里县和圣胡安县.
The researchers will continue tracking how information availability influences requests for food assistance, particularly in the 22 newly identified information deserts and information uncertain communities that are at high risk of becoming food insecure in the future. 与此同时, the scientists hope their research helps inform public policy decisions regarding food assistance.
“This study offers emergency food providers with a snapshot of where their services are most needed and why they need to bolster their efforts to get timely and reliable information into the hands of those seeking their help,安德里亚·华莱士说。, Ph.D., R.N., the study’s senior author and chair of health systems and community-based care in the College of Nursing. “It could lead to policies that help communities better serve residents in need of food assistance, 现在和将来.”
基于这些发现, the researchers plan to expand their work to identify at risk communities in more than 15 other states.
在目前的研究中, 36个犹他州地区, 社区和邻里被指定为粮食不安全地区, 信息沙漠或信息不确定. 它们是:
食品不安全: Ben Lomond地区, 卡恩斯, 漫画, 是否, 穆雷, 奥格登(市区), 盐湖城（市中心）, 格兰岱尔市, 玫瑰公园), 南奥格登, 南盐湖, 泰勒斯维尔（东）/穆雷（西）, 西谷（中）, 西谷（东）.
沙漠信息: Hollady, Millcreek(南), 桑迪, 盐湖城（大道）, 东南自由, 糖的房子, 西约旦（东北部）, 东南, 西方/ Copperton), 西谷（西）.
信息不确定: 布兰丁/蒙蒂塞洛, 碳县, 锡达城, 达格特和犹他县, δ/菲尔莫, 金刚砂县, 普罗沃（市中心西部）, 田生/梦露/盐水湖, 圣胡安县, 华盛顿县.
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除了博士. Sharareh和Wallace博士. Rachel Hess, Neng Wan, and Cathleen Zick contributed to this study. Dr. Sharareh conducted this work through a contract with United Way of Salt Lake.
University of Utah Health provides leading-edge and compassionate medicine for a referral area that encompasses 10% of the U.S.包括爱达荷州、怀俄明州、蒙大拿州和内华达州的大部分地区. 是本地区卫生科学研究和教育的中心, U of U Health touts a $356 million research enterprise and trains the majority of Utah’s physicians and more than 1,250 health care providers each year at its Schools of Medicine and Dentistry and Colleges of Nursing, 药剂学与卫生. With more than 20,000 employees, the system includes 12 community clinics and four hospitals. For nine straight years, U of U Health has ranked among the top 10 U.S. academic medical centers in the rigorous Vizient Quality and Accountability Study, 包括达到. 2010年和2016年各1次.