(O-E1) Food Insecurity and Housing Instability Screening and Follow-up in a Pediatric Emergency Department

Objectives: This pilot study examines the impact of Food Insecurity and Housing Instability screening and referral systems in a PED serving a large community.

Background: Food Insecurity (FI) and Housing Instability (HI) disproportionally impact children within underserved communities. Pediatric Emergency Departments (PEDs) are uniquely positioned to address FI and HI in communities with inequitable access to food and housing resources. This study examines the impact of FI and HI screening and referral systems in a PED serving a large community.

Methods: From March 2021 to February 2022, 1,981 PED patients participated in a 16-question cross-sectional survey addressing FI and HI and child/caregiver health status. All participants received passive referrals to food and housing resources. Research assistants contacted participants who screened positive for FI/HI at three and six weeks to readminister the survey. Summary statistics describe FI and HI outcomes.

Results: Of 218 patients (11.0% surveyed) who screened positive for FI/HI, 149 (68.3%) were contacted at three- and six-weeks. Of these 149, 60.5% were food insecure, and 77.2% were housing insecure at the index ED visit. After administration of passive referrals, 50.7% and 45.3% of baseline-positive patients reported FI at three and six-weeks, respectively. Additionally, 47.3% and 42.7% reported HI at three and six-weeks, respectively. Participants who self-reported good health had a lower rate of FI compared to those who reported poor health status.

Conclusions: While we observed encouraging FI reductions among PED patients, no significant change was noted in HI, and both generally persisted. FI was associated with lower overall health status compared to HI. EDs are ideal environments for detecting FI and HI, however, additional research is necessary to examine resource uptake among FI and HI patients

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Funding (Optional): n/a