A new program will provide a monthly grocery stipend to West Side residents with chronic illnesses who also experience food insecurity.
The initiative aims to reduce the negative impact food insecurity has on people’s health, recognizing that health does not only depend on medical treatment, but a patient’s social and economic circumstances.
About 34% of 15,000 West Side patients reported running out of food or worrying about it in the last year because of the lack of money, according to Wellness West, a Chicago-based health collaborative. By eliminating barriers to food, patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, depression and severe mental illnesses could see their health improve.
The program, called Food Connections, is a partnership with Instacart that works a bit like SNAP, said Misty Drake, executive director of Wellness West, one of the program’s leading partners. It will provide monthly food benefits for people who have been assessed to be food-insecure.
The program is one of several initiatives that Wellness West has begun to address health inequities in Chicago’s West Side. It is partly funded by the Illinois Department of Health to provide comprehensive care to nearly 200,000 insured and uninsured patients.
In their model of care, patients get access to medical services and are connected to community health workers who assess their needs beyond a medical or physical examination.
“They are cultural, linguistic and lived experience translators,” Drake said.
Because they understand patients’ experiences, community health workers can identify some of their barriers to a healthy lifestyle or health care in a way doctors not always can. Thus, they can help them get access to programs or resources that address these barriers, such as lack of access to food or housing. By addressing these needs, Wellness West looks to improve patients’ health in ways that traditional health care models fail to do.
It’s like: “How do we think about health differently?” Drake said.
Through the Food Connections program, eligible West Siders will receive $79 a month on the e-commerce platform Instacart to purchase fresh and frozen food from grocery stores.
They can choose to have their groceries delivered to their home, eliminating transportation or mobility barriers. That money can be used to offset monthly subscription or delivery fees. It can also be combined with SNAP or other benefits to supplement grocery budgets.
“We have to start treating these barriers to care just like we treat [with] medicine … You screen, you assess and you provide the service,” Drake said. “And what that means is that we have to invest in it as well.”
Over the next six months, Wellness West and Instacart aim to bring some hyperlocal independent stores into Instacart. While they are scarce, some could join, potentially increasing their visibility and bringing in new customers — and more revenue, Drake said. This provides an opportunity to invest back into the few hyperlocal independent grocery stores that have stayed in West Side communities and circulate dollars within the community, she said.
Other retailers with West Side locations, such as Pete’s Fresh Market and Cermak, are already on Instacart and could also benefit from this program, Drake said.
So far, Wellness West has invested about $350,000 to combat food insecurity on the West Side, yet more is needed to achieve health equity, Drake said.
“There has to be some investment in the infrastructure,” Drake said. “Just like there’s an investment in having imaging machinery in order to assess for breast cancer screening, this is no different.”
“If I’m not addressing inadequate housing, if I’m not addressing the lack of transportation … then I’m never going to achieve health equity,” she said.
