Food Insecurity's Association with Depression and Anxiety in an Underserved Heart Failure Population: Addressing Access to Food

Heart failure (HF) is a complex and chronic condition that requires ongoing management, and in patients with adverse social determinants of health (SDOH) disease management can become challenging. Food insecurity (FI), a common adverse SDOH, can have negative consequences for those living with HF. Heart failure and SDOH also have significant impacts on mental health and well-being. In this report, we describe the experiences of screening for FI in a clinic caring for underserved patients with HF, and our clinic's implementation of a food distribution program to address FI. Through community partnerships, we provided medically tailored bags of food for those who screened positive for FI. During our clinic's development of this program, we found that those who were food-insecure had statistically significantly higher depression scores and anxiety scores. This relationship provides guidance for future work examining the program's impact on mental health, well-being, and HF outcomes.