A committee of the South Carolina Food Policy Council, the purpose of Food is Medicine South Carolina is to improve coordination among organizations working on healthy eating initiatives in health care settings across the state.
Diabetes Free SC provides capacity-building support to the committee, and has strategically invested in two current projects to help build a firm foundation moving forward.
- Medicine initiatives are a statewide landscape assessment of food. These initiatives will provide a clear baseline of which interventions are currently operating in health care organizations to increase access to healthy foods. There will also be an emphasis on barriers and facilitators for implementing these initiatives, as well as building a better understanding of patient experiences in these initiatives.
- Food is Medicine South Carolina has convened a community of practice representing organizations implementing produce prescription programs across the state. As part of this effort, partners will be participating in a collaborative statewide evaluation process to better understand the impact of these interventions on food security and health outcomes.
Sixty-seven health care organizations completed a landscape assessment survey. Out of the survey respondents, 11 participated in a follow-up interview.
The purpose of this assessment was to:
- Determine where food insecurity screenings and referrals, produce prescription programs, and health care system interventions focused on improving food access are taking place.
- Identify specific tools, systems and processes being used within these interventions.
- Understand capacity for future sustainability of interventions.
- Identify funding mechanisms to support these programs.