CLEVELAND — Hunger is on the rise not only across the country, but right here in Northeast Ohio. And this week, we're sharing a three-part series on how we're addressing food insecurity here in our community. It's part of our ongoing "Health, Hope & Healing" series with former Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton, and today we're learning about University Hospitals' Food for Life program.
Increasingly, healthcare systems are supporting the idea that food is medicine, and at University Hospitals, an initiative aimed at addressing chronic health conditions that can be impacted by access to healthy food is growing.
The Food for Life program, started in 2018, offers patients an opportunity to take control of what they eat and serve their families by providing free healthy food and consultations with dietitians.
"Our core values at University Hospitals are service, excellence, integrity, trust, compassion and belonging," Celina Cunanan told Dr. Acton. "And that kind of work is what drives me in this work is really for the patients I service...I want to make sure that they live in a space in which they're valued and seen and kind of lifted up for who they are and not for what that they're not."
Cunanan is Chief Diversity Equity and Belonging Officer at University Hospitals, but she began her career as a Midwife, and went on to lead UH's Midwifery Division and their Centering Pregnancy Program before stepping into her current role in 2022. She says her experiences in the maternal-child healthcare space showed her firsthand how social determinants can greatly impact health outcomes.
"That really kind of started me on this path to examine, well why? What are the reasons behind this? Why are these inequities happening?"
WATCH: You can see Dr. Acton's full interview with Celina Cunanan below.
One initiative University Hospitals is using to try to address some of those inequities is The Davis in Glenville, an affordable apartment and townhome complex created in partnership with the NRP Group, City of Cleveland, CMHA and CMSD. The Davis is also home to a community wellness center and UH's fifth Food for Life market - their first that's directly community facing.
"It's really about helping people navigate life. Social needs navigation is a huge part of it. We have a community health worker that's here every day, then [we provide] access to our Food for Life market and cooking classes. And they get one-on-one visits with our dietician to really try and improve their health," Cunanan explained.
As Dr. Acton noted, doctors and hospitals are now screening patients for many different risks to their health, including food insecurity, issues with housing and other needs. And as part of this larger initiative, UH patients can be referred directly to a Food for Life market, and to a dietician on staff.
There are currently Food for Life markets located in the UH Otis Moss Jr. Health Center, the UH Richmond Wellness Center, and UH Portage Medical Center as well as this new Glenville location, and there are plans to expand in the near future.
"Eating healthy is the driver for everything. I think every diagnosis, every disease state can be brought back to nutrition and what you're putting in your bodies," Cunanan said.
Neveda Sellers-Moton is a UH patient whose story is a perfect example of the connection between food as medicine and food insecurity. She’s a six year survivor of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, has type 2 diabetes and experienced three transient ischemic attack “mini-strokes.” She’s also a single mom to six kids while holding down several part-time jobs.
"So this is one of the reasons why I chose something like this," she told Dr. Acton. "When I seen it in my doctor's office, I knew that I was on different medications, but I wanted a way for me to get healthier and for me to lead a healthier lifestyle for me and my family."
WATCH: See Dr. Acton's complete interview with Neveda Sellers-Moton below.
Sellers-Moton has been working with Jenny Menning, Outreach Community Dietitian at Sodexo Healthcare at the UH Portage Medical Center and says her support has made all the difference.
"We talk a little bit and she gives me recipes for things. We shop for things and even discuss meals. How am I going to prepare things and stuff like that. And it's wonderful," she said. "She encouraged me. She inspired me and it just inspired me to do more."
Anne Leach, director of Clinical and Community Nutrition at Sodexo Healthcare showed Dr. Acton around the Food for Life Pantry in Glenville, and explained that their Registered Dieticians are aware of each patient's medical history and can then recommend and encourage certain foods and recipes that fit their specific health needs.
Leach and Cunanan recently presented their research at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo to show that what they're doing is making in impact.
"What we found is that patients who participate in the market, actually compared to those who don't, we are seeing drops in hemoglobin A1C if they are diabetic, we're seeing drops in blood pressure. We're also seeing drops in unintended excess weight gain if they're pregnant," Cunanan explained.
Sellers-Moton has seen similar results.
"My A1C numbers were down to 617, which is the lowest it's been since 2017. I lost 16 pounds over the last year and losing," she told Dr. Acton. "So that to me, was a wonderful joy to just know that my work and my efforts in having a healthier lifestyle, and making healthier choices [are working]."
Cunanan says there is still more work to do, and in addition to more market locations, UH has plans to open the markets to patients of other local healthcare systems.
"We are hoping to make sure that this is forward-facing to the community. You don't have to be a patient to access the market," she explained. "Hopefully in early 2024, we'll be able to make this really forward to the community."
Sellers-Moton says, she's living proof that a few small lifestyle changes can yield big results.
"Eating healthy, exercising. I know it sounds cliché, but it works and it's real. Food is medicine as well as the medicines that we use. I thank God for doctors and world renowned healing powers of medicine, but food is medicine and that's what it's done for me. It has healed me and it's healing me continuously."
If you're interested in visiting a Food for Life market, ask your medical provider, or you can learn more here.
More Health, Hope & Healing from Dr. Amy Acton:
- Health, Hope & Healing: Dr. Amy Acton takes us inside Cleveland State University's LUV! Food Pantry
- Health, Hope & Healing: Dr. Amy Acton goes inside the Greater Cleveland Food Bank's new Community Resource Center
- 'Health, Hope & Healing': Dr. Amy Acton examines how Cleveland urban farm is helping a community heal in 'Forgotten Triangle'
- 'Health, Hope & Healing': Dr. Amy Acton examines the loneliness epidemic