Lowcountry Food Bank announces release of educational video to support healthcare professionals during food insecurity patient screenings

This short, animated video is available to all healthcare professionals and supports Food is Medicine South Carolina

With support from Healthy People, Healthy Carolinas, Lowcountry Food Bank released today an educational video to support healthcare professionals across South Carolina. The video, titled “Incorporating Food Insecurity Screening,” supports providers as they incorporate social determinants of health screening into patient visits. Social determinants of health are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of quality-of-life outcomes and risks, like access to healthy food, opportunities for physical activity, safe housing and transportation, literacy skills, educational and job opportunities.

The screening, during a patient visit, can determine if a patient is having trouble meeting their basic food needs for themselves or their family. Not being able to access nutritious foods can be detrimental to a patient’s health and interrupt the healing process. Studies have shown that an individual who is food insecure has an increased risk of diabetes, hypertension, stroke, mental health problems, depression, and other chronic conditions.

Once screened, the healthcare team member can notate the results in the patient’s chart and, if screened positive for food insecurity, offer food resources in their community, through federal nutrition programs, a local food pantry, or produce prescription programs. A patient’s access to the nutritious foods they need to thrive is integral to improve health outcomes and decrease costs associated with poor health.

“Working with our Food for Health partners, we’ve found that most know that screening is important but don’t feel confident in the best practice for implementing workflows and connecting patients with food,” said Dana Mitchel, Director Community Health and Nutrition at Lowcountry Food Bank. “We hope this video can be a good starting point for providers to begin having more discussions among their staff.”

Click here to access the video for free on Lowcountry Food Bank’s YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euZL8rDaFD8

Healthcare professionals across the state are encouraged to share the video among their networks and with their healthcare administrators, providers, and community health workers. Together, we can support patients on their health and wellness journey. Click here to learn more about Food is Medicine South Carolina.

About the Lowcountry Food Bank: Feed. Advocate. Empower.

The Lowcountry Food Bank serves the 10 coastal counties of South Carolina and distributed more than 42 million pounds of food in 2023. The Lowcountry Food Bank aims to unite our community in pursuit of equitable, dignified, and consistent access to food by distributing food to 230+ partner agencies including on-site meal programs, homeless shelters and emergency food pantries. The Lowcountry Food Bank advocates on behalf of those who experience hunger and helps empower people to make healthy and nutritious food choices. For more information, visit the Lowcountry Food Bank website.