Building Pediatrician Capacity to Address Food Insecurity

Program Design

• Social determinants of health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.
• The social ecological model conceptualizes health broadly and focuses on multiple factors that might affect health.
• To learn more about our project, please visit Building Pediatrician Capacity to Address Food Insecurity Project Overview.

Practice Resources

ECHO Practice Change Education

Inspired by the way clinicians learn from medical rounds during residencies, the ECHO model has evolved into a learning framework that applies across disciplines for sustainable and profound change.  Through the “all teach, all learn” methodology, each ECHO food insecurity cohort is comprised of 6 one-hour sessions.  These sessions each include content delivery, case discussions and opportunities for providers to share experiences with implementation and discuss challenges and strategies to increase awareness, screening, and referrals for food insecurity in primary care practice.

• Stories from the Clinic: Lessons Learned from Cohort 1 (2022)
• Stories from the Clinic: Lessons Learned from Cohort 2 (2023)

CHA Webinar Series

American Academy of Pediatrics in collaboration with Childrens Hospital Association put on a three-part webinar series exploring ways that children’s hospitals and pediatric practices can address the hunger needs of children and families. 

USDA's Actions on Nutrition Security: The Role of the Healthcare Sector and Pediatricians (childrenshospitals.org)

Promising Clinical Practices to Build Nutrition Security for Children and Families (childrenshospitals.org)

Telling the Story: How Pediatricians and Children's Hospitals Are Advocating for Nutrition Security (childrenshospitals.org)

Community Resources

Building Effective Ambassadors for Children Community of Practice

In partnership with Community Pediatrics Training Initiative (CPTI), the Building Effective Ambassadors for Children Community of Practice is designed to equip pediatricians with the skills necessary for both community engagement and policy strategies around food insecurity.  

• Stories from the Field: Overview of Cohort 1

Additional Resources

Visit Implement a Community Project to learn how to design, implement, and evaluate your projects. By beginning to work at the level of communities and systems, your efforts can have a larger impact. Developing comprehensive, multifaceted strategies to address community health needs is crucial to improving the community’s health.  

State Resources

Chapter Grants

Fourteen AAP state chapters were selected over two years to convene food delivery and family support partners to explore opportunities for formal collaboration.  The goal is to close knowledge and systems gaps and address health inequities.

View a press release from No Kid Hungry by Share Our Strength about the our chapter grant work here.

Building Pediatrician and Hospital System Capacity to Promote Food Security Webinar Series

The American Academy of Pediatrics, Share Our Strength- No Kid Hungry, Children's Hospital Association, and Food Research & Action Center have created a five-part webinar series that dives deeper into how pediatricians and other healthcare professionals can promote food security at the clinical, community, state, and national level. The series includes presentations from experts, a lived experience panel, an open discussion around WIC data sharing with USDA, and a presentation from USDA’s Dr. Caree Cotwright. Register for the webinar series here.

Webinar #1: Setting the Stage: Food Security and Advocating for Food Justice with Families, April 3rd, 2024, from 11am to 12pm CST

Dr. Kofi Essel, Food as Medicine Director with Elevance Health, joins us to share the latest food security trends and discuss the importance of addressing this social need in the hospital/clinic setting. A lived experience panel of family experts will join us to share their experiences in the clinical setting, as well as accessing food resources.

To view a recording of the webinar, please click here.

Webinar #2: Addressing Food Security and Other Social Needs: Tips for Using Human-Centered Design and Clinical Interventions to Help Families, May 15th, 2024, from 10 to 11am CST

Please join Dr. Leisha Andersen, Dr. Kimberly Montez, and Dr. Shaina Rogers as they talk about the importance of using human-centered design when creating clinical interventions to promote food security among families. Innovative examples will be discussed during the webinar. 

Webinar #3: Building Community Connections: Partnerships to Increase Food Accessibility, June 23rd, 2024, from 2 to 3pm CST

Dr. Sara Bode, Director of AAP's Community Pediatric Training Initiative (CPTI) will discuss her work on identifying, building, and sustaining community partnerships for addressing child advocacy issues at. After her discussion on how pediatricians, with the training to build and sustain these partnerships, can build critical roles in their community, Dr. Rinet Fernandes will discuss her work in New Jersey putting these skills to practice to address food insecurity in her clinic.

Webinar #4: Connecting Pediatricians with WIC through Data Sharing: A Conversation with USDA, July 26th, 2024 from 12 to 1pm CST

This is an open discussion with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on the success and barriers to data sharing with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).  Register for the webinar here. 

Webinar #5: USDA’s Efforts Promoting Food Security: Words from Dr. Cotwright, August 14th, 2024, from 12 to 1pm CST

Dr. Caree Cotwright, Director of Nutrition Security and Healthy Equity at the USADA, is joining to share the many ways that the USDA is working to connect families to nutritious foods.