Implementation of the Hunger Vital Sign Tool to Assess Food Insecurity
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Abstract
Problem: Resource insecurity stresses the parent-infant dyad and compromises nutritional status in breastfeeding mothers of hospitalized infants. On a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in an urban area with high prevalence of food scarcity, families are not screened for food insecurity (FI). Incorporating a standardized screening process can identify up to 59% of unmet family needs and enhance family-centered care. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement (QI) project was to identify NICU families at risk for FI by implementing an evidence-based, standardized screening tool. Methods: A QI project was carried out over 15 weeks in the fall 2024. The Hunger Vital Sign tool was incorporated into the initial unit social work (SW) assessment. Assessment and monitoring were carried out via weekly unit data audit of the number of families screened, identified at-risk, and resources provided using electronic health record (EHR) and the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) tool. Results: The average weekly unit census was 45 patients with an average of eight new admission intakes per week. The screening tool was applied to 86% of newly admitted NICU families with 3.4% requiring immediate food resources during the hospitalization and 7.6% requiring additional community food resources. Conclusions: This QI project validates the use of and aligns with current evidence supporting a standardized screening tool to assess FI. Additional project data indicated that 76% of families experience some type of social need, including infant supplies (26.3%), permanent housing (11.9%) and NICU therapy group (17.8%). Project results contribute to the existing body of knowledge on resource insecurities affecting NICU families. Keywords: neonatal intensive care, food insecurity, Hunger Vital Sign, social work, intake assessment, screening, food assistance, food resources