Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the ascension foodrx-social systems…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the ascension foodrx-social systems initiative (afrx-SSI): mixed methods design for poverty disruption among our most vulnerable pregnant persons and babies will focus on patients receiving maternal health services at an ascension medical group (AMG) site, and who ultimately deliver at an ascension seton hospital location in central texas. In central texas from 2020 through present day (may, 2023), nearly 1 in 5 (18.2%) of medicaid and self-pay persons screened positive for an sdoh related need. Within this group, more than half indicated food insecurity and transportation were primary barriers to improving their health. Prenatal healthcare offers a unique opportunity to influence long term health outcomes of pregnant persons and their babies, providing frequent touch points to offer education and low cost interventions. Compared with infants born to pregnant persons who received prenatal care, infants whose pregnant persons did not receive prenatal care are three times more likely tohave a low birth weight and are five times more likely to DIE in infancy. Additionally, pregnant persons who do not receive prenatal care are three to four times more likely to DIE from pregnancy-related complications than those who do receive care.pregnant persons enrolling in afrx - SSI will be offered a range of pre-built produce boxes to select from, and will include general FFV, condition-specific FFV identified by the provider, and culturally appropriate FFV over the course of the intervention period. Afrx will be filled utilizing the athena EMR referral function, and delivered to the patient's home, at no cost to participants. Refills will be provided during attendance at prenatal visits or navigator engagement. In person education and nutrition counseling will be provided as part of the navigator activities. Navigators will capture and track participants fulfilling an afrx within the EHR (athena) to establish incentive eligibility, assist participants in completing pre- and post- enrollment surveys as required for grant reporting and evaluation, and also track additional social barriers the participant experiences in accessing healthcare services. Relevant healthcare outcomes and metrics will be tracked over the course of the healthcare encounter to evaluate efficacy of the intervention.ultimately, this project aims to achieve the following:improve the dietary health of a cohort of pregnant participants at risk for developing SMM through increased consumption of fruits and vegetables; reduce the impact of household food insecurity among participants; increase the percentage of pregnancies reaching term and being born at ideal birth weight; andcompile qualitative and quantitative data to support scale and spread of PPR through afrx-SSI model to other care settings within the ascension network