Food: A Three-Arm Study Examining Food Insecurity Interventions

Description

The investigators have found that many patients getting treatment for cancer have trouble getting enough to eat, or do not always have enough money for food. When a patient has these problems it can lead to difficulties with completing cancer treatment. Across New York City, there are many hospitals that offer their patients food pantry services on location. The investigators would like to compare how food pantries within the hospital and two other food assistance options: monthly food vouchers and weekly grocery deliveries maybe possible solutions to this problem. The patient will be randomly assigned to one of the three different food program groups, which means everyone has an equal chance in being in any group, like a flip of a coin. The investigators hope to learn how to best help patients with trouble getting food and to see if this will help with completing cancer treatment. The original RCT composed of study arms: 1) hospital -based food pantry (control), 2) food voucher program plus access to the food pantry, and 3) grocery delivery program plus access to the food pantry will remain open to accrual at Ralph Lauren Cancer Center. The other three sites of the original RCT, Lincoln Hospital, Queens Cancer Center and Brooklyn Hospital, have reached target accrual. Our modified RCT, to be carried out among an expanded cohort of cancer patients is composed of study arms : 1) Food Voucher Program (Voucher); 2) Home Grocery Delivery Program (Delivery); and 3) Medically-tailored, Hospital-based Food Pantry (Pantry). For this RCT, we will enroll patients across Bronx hospitals- Jacobi Medical Center, St. Barnabas Hospital, and Montefiore Medical Center. For the new study arms, we will enroll patients across Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, Jacobi Medical Center, St. Barnabas Medical Center, Montefiore Health System, New York Cancer \& Blood Before Specialists, and Bellevue Hospital. Before conducting the RCT across Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center and the new sites in the Bronx, we will refine written educational materials to be used in the intervention through focus groups.

Conditions

Cancer Patients

Study Overview

Study Details

Study overview

The investigators have found that many patients getting treatment for cancer have trouble getting enough to eat, or do not always have enough money for food. When a patient has these problems it can lead to difficulties with completing cancer treatment. Across New York City, there are many hospitals that offer their patients food pantry services on location. The investigators would like to compare how food pantries within the hospital and two other food assistance options: monthly food vouchers and weekly grocery deliveries maybe possible solutions to this problem. The patient will be randomly assigned to one of the three different food program groups, which means everyone has an equal chance in being in any group, like a flip of a coin. The investigators hope to learn how to best help patients with trouble getting food and to see if this will help with completing cancer treatment. The original RCT composed of study arms: 1) hospital -based food pantry (control), 2) food voucher program plus access to the food pantry, and 3) grocery delivery program plus access to the food pantry will remain open to accrual at Ralph Lauren Cancer Center. The other three sites of the original RCT, Lincoln Hospital, Queens Cancer Center and Brooklyn Hospital, have reached target accrual. Our modified RCT, to be carried out among an expanded cohort of cancer patients is composed of study arms : 1) Food Voucher Program (Voucher); 2) Home Grocery Delivery Program (Delivery); and 3) Medically-tailored, Hospital-based Food Pantry (Pantry). For this RCT, we will enroll patients across Bronx hospitals- Jacobi Medical Center, St. Barnabas Hospital, and Montefiore Medical Center. For the new study arms, we will enroll patients across Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, Jacobi Medical Center, St. Barnabas Medical Center, Montefiore Health System, New York Cancer \& Blood Before Specialists, and Bellevue Hospital. Before conducting the RCT across Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center and the new sites in the Bronx, we will refine written educational materials to be used in the intervention through focus groups.

Food: A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Study Examining Food Insecurity Interventions

Food: A Three-Arm Study Examining Food Insecurity Interventions

Condition
Cancer Patients
Intervention / Treatment

-

Contacts and Locations

Bronx

St. Barnabas Medical Center, Bronx, New York, United States, 10457

Bronx

Jacobi Medical Center, Bronx, New York, United States, 10465

Bronx

Montefiore Health System (Montefiore Medical Center), Bronx, New York, United States, 10467

Bronx

New York Cancer & Blood Specialists (Data collection only), Bronx, New York, United States, 10469

Bronx

Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, Bronx, New York, United States,

Brooklyn

Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, New York, United States, 11201

Jamaica

Queens Hospital Center, Jamaica, New York, United States, 11432

New York

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, United States, 10065

New York

Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, New York, United States,

New York

Ralph Lauren Center for Cancer Care and Prevention, New York, New York, United States,

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

For general information about clinical research, read Learn About Studies.

Eligibility Criteria

    Ages Eligible for Study

    18 Years to

    Sexes Eligible for Study

    ALL

    Accepts Healthy Volunteers

    No

    Collaborators and Investigators

    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,

    Francesca Gany, MD, MS, PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

    Study Record Dates

    2026-05