背景:那些无家可归的人依赖于从社区组织者那里获得食物和捐赠。同时,无房的脸不成比例的高的医疗状况,可能会受到包括糖尿病在内的饮食的影响,高血压,和高脂血症。从可操作的角度来看,关于无房社区关于最佳营养的资源和障碍的文献有限。Further,关于街头医学组织如何最好地影响他们所服务的无住房者的营养的数据较少。阐明此信息将告知组织工作如何最好地支持无房社区的营养。
方法:与医学生组织合作,芝加哥街头医学,西北大学范伯格医学院,20名在芝加哥无家可归的成年人,伊利诺伊州参加了横断面研究。口头进行了一项10项调查,以描述参与者的每日食物摄入量,食物来源,障碍,资源,营养偏好和需求。所有数据都直接转录到REDCap中。生成描述性统计数据。
结果:个人每天平均食用2份零食和餐食(IQR:1-3)。没有参与者食用足够的食物,只有一名参与者满足一个食物组的饮食摄入量要求。参与者通常从捐赠中获得食物(n=15),自己购买(n=11),食品储藏室(n=4),和庇护所(n=3)。19名参与者中有11人认为牙科问题是消费某些食物的主要障碍。十二名参与者可以使用开罐器,十二名可以在炉子或微波炉上加热饭菜。七个人可以使用厨房设施,在那里他们可以做饭。大约一半的参与者接受了医生的建议,以保持特定的饮食,最重要的是减少糖的摄入。
结论:大多数无家可归的参与者无法获得均衡的饮食,通常依靠组织的努力来进食。组织应该考虑慢性健康状况,牙列需要,以及获得食物分发给无住房者时的物质资源和最佳营养障碍。
Those experiencing houselessness rely on obtaining food from community organizers and donations. Simultaneously, the houseless face disproportionally high rates of medical conditions that may be affected by diet including diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. There is limited literature on the resources and barriers of the houseless community regarding optimal nutrition from an actionable perspective. Further, less data is available on how street medicine organizations may best impact the nutrition of the unhoused they serve. Elucidating this information will inform how organizational efforts may best support the nutrition of the houseless community.
In partnership with the medical student-run organization, Chicago Street Medicine, at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, twenty adults experiencing houselessness in Chicago, Illinois participated in the cross-sectional study. A 10-item survey was verbally administered to characterize the participants\' daily food intake, food sources, barriers, resources, and nutritional preferences and needs. All data was directly transcribed into REDCap. Descriptive statistics were generated.
Individuals consumed a median of 2 snacks and meals per day (IQR: 1-3). No participant consumed adequate servings of every food group, with only one participant meeting the dietary intake requirements for one food group. Participants most often received their food from donations (n = 15), purchasing themselves (n = 11), food pantries (n = 4), and shelters (n = 3). Eleven of nineteen participants endorsed dental concerns as a major barrier to consuming certain foods. Twelve participants had access to a can opener and twelve could heat their meals on a stove or microwave. Seven had access to kitchen facilities where they may prepare a meal. Approximately half of participants had been counseled by a physician to maintain a particular diet, with most related to reducing sugar intake.
Most houseless participants were unable to acquire a balanced diet and often relied on organizational efforts to eat. Organizations should consider the chronic health conditions, dentition needs, and physical resources and barriers to optimal nutrition when obtaining food to distribute to the unhoused.