Making kidney-friendly foods at home can be challenging, especially when a family is facing food insecurity. The Hunger Vital Sign screen is a simple tool with two questions that helps find out if families with young kids have enough food. At the Dialysis Unit in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the team discovered that 52% of families with kids on dialysis were struggling with food insecurity. This was well above the rate in Philadelphia (18.6%) and the United States (11.8%).
Why food insecurity matters
Children on dialysis with food insecurity have worse lab values, increased rates of infection and lower quality of life than children on dialysis who are food secure. The more support we can offer families in following through with guidelines and making kidney-friendly foods, the more improvement we hope to see with their lab values.
What we’re doing to address food insecurity
In April 2024, using funds donated to the Division of Nephrology, the CHOP Nephrology dialysis team opened a food pantry as part of our project titled, Food Opportunities to improve Outcomes in Dialysis (FOOD). In partnership with the Food Pharmacy, this food pantry provides kidney-friendly, shelf-stable foods to patients and families identified as food insecure. The team also offers one hot meal per patient and caregiver for each hemodialysis treatment, and one hot meal per patient and caregiver during their monthly peritoneal dialysis clinic visit.
Our impact
From April to September 2024, the team served 870 meals and 229 fruit cups, and about 10 families per week utilized the food pantry. Overall, we have received a lot of positive feedback regarding both the meal program and the food pantry.
Below are some anecdotes from participating families that demonstrate the program’s positive impact:
- A family had recently lost their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and was very grateful for the program.
- A family reported that the dry goods were helpful because their local pantry only provides canned goods and meat.
- Another family was just grateful for a delicious hot meal. They said, “The meals taste really good. Better than what we could make at home!”
In September 2024, patients and families participating in the dialysis FOOD program were given a follow-up survey to reassess their food insecurity status and evaluate the program’s effectiveness. Survey results were as follows:
- On a scale of 1-5, five being most helpful, 100% of families reported having additional access to food as a five.
- In response to often, sometimes, or never, 80% of families felt the dialysis FOOD program has often helped reduce their worries about food and has helped to reduce some of their daily stress.
- As of November 2024, 47% of families with children on hemodialysis screened as food insecure using the validated Hunger Vital Sign screening tool, down from 52% before the program was initiated.
With the creation of this program, the team also expects to see improvements in patient outcomes. FOOD tracks progress among patients utilizing the program to see if there is a decrease in the amount of infection and hospitalization rates and an increase in the number of patients with lab values (Hgb, iPTH, phosphorus) in range.
Since the FOOD program was initiated, the team has noted:
- There has been a statistically significant decrease in unplanned admissions.
- There has been a statistically significant increase in the marker for nutrition status (albumin levels) when compared to the two years prior.
We are continuing to collect data to determine if we can see an improvement in line infections and other biochemical parameters.
“The FOOD program allows us to care for the patients and families as a whole, not only by managing their dialysis care, but also their social drivers of health,” says Chrissy Burke, MSN, CRNP, a dialysis nurse practitioner with CHOP’s Dialysis Unit. “Offering renal-friendly meals and snacks really helps patients overall. It relieves stress related to food insecurity and related to food choices for their child. Managing phosphorus in dialysis patients is very challenging, so the more we can offer renal-friendly meals and snacks, the more improvement we should see with their lab values. We are actively applying for funding to continue these programs and if we are successful could potentially expand it to those with higher stages of chronic kidney disease who haven’t yet started dialysis but need additional support.”
To support the Division of Nephrology and programs like FOOD, please donate here.
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Making kidney-friendly foods at home can be challenging, especially when a family is facing food insecurity. The Hunger Vital Sign screen is a simple tool with two questions that helps find out if families with young kids have enough food. At the Dialysis Unit in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), the team discovered that 52% of families with kids on dialysis were struggling with food insecurity. This was well above the rate in Philadelphia (18.6%) and the United States (11.8%).
Why food insecurity matters
Children on dialysis with food insecurity have worse lab values, increased rates of infection and lower quality of life than children on dialysis who are food secure. The more support we can offer families in following through with guidelines and making kidney-friendly foods, the more improvement we hope to see with their lab values.
What we’re doing to address food insecurity
In April 2024, using funds donated to the Division of Nephrology, the CHOP Nephrology dialysis team opened a food pantry as part of our project titled, Food Opportunities to improve Outcomes in Dialysis (FOOD). In partnership with the Food Pharmacy, this food pantry provides kidney-friendly, shelf-stable foods to patients and families identified as food insecure. The team also offers one hot meal per patient and caregiver for each hemodialysis treatment, and one hot meal per patient and caregiver during their monthly peritoneal dialysis clinic visit.
Our impact
From April to September 2024, the team served 870 meals and 229 fruit cups, and about 10 families per week utilized the food pantry. Overall, we have received a lot of positive feedback regarding both the meal program and the food pantry.
Below are some anecdotes from participating families that demonstrate the program’s positive impact:
- A family had recently lost their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits and was very grateful for the program.
- A family reported that the dry goods were helpful because their local pantry only provides canned goods and meat.
- Another family was just grateful for a delicious hot meal. They said, “The meals taste really good. Better than what we could make at home!”
In September 2024, patients and families participating in the dialysis FOOD program were given a follow-up survey to reassess their food insecurity status and evaluate the program’s effectiveness. Survey results were as follows:
- On a scale of 1-5, five being most helpful, 100% of families reported having additional access to food as a five.
- In response to often, sometimes, or never, 80% of families felt the dialysis FOOD program has often helped reduce their worries about food and has helped to reduce some of their daily stress.
- As of November 2024, 47% of families with children on hemodialysis screened as food insecure using the validated Hunger Vital Sign screening tool, down from 52% before the program was initiated.
With the creation of this program, the team also expects to see improvements in patient outcomes. FOOD tracks progress among patients utilizing the program to see if there is a decrease in the amount of infection and hospitalization rates and an increase in the number of patients with lab values (Hgb, iPTH, phosphorus) in range.
Since the FOOD program was initiated, the team has noted:
- There has been a statistically significant decrease in unplanned admissions.
- There has been a statistically significant increase in the marker for nutrition status (albumin levels) when compared to the two years prior.
We are continuing to collect data to determine if we can see an improvement in line infections and other biochemical parameters.
“The FOOD program allows us to care for the patients and families as a whole, not only by managing their dialysis care, but also their social drivers of health,” says Chrissy Burke, MSN, CRNP, a dialysis nurse practitioner with CHOP’s Dialysis Unit. “Offering renal-friendly meals and snacks really helps patients overall. It relieves stress related to food insecurity and related to food choices for their child. Managing phosphorus in dialysis patients is very challenging, so the more we can offer renal-friendly meals and snacks, the more improvement we should see with their lab values. We are actively applying for funding to continue these programs and if we are successful could potentially expand it to those with higher stages of chronic kidney disease who haven’t yet started dialysis but need additional support.”
To support the Division of Nephrology and programs like FOOD, please donate here.
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