ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT07643909HRSNUpdated Oct 30, 2026

Health-Related Social Needs Food Boxes Delivery Program

An interventional study of Monthly food staples and fresh produce and Standard of care in Food Insecurity, sponsored by Boston Medical Center. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-30.

Sponsored by Boston Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Health services research

Updated Oct 30, 2026Start date movedGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
50
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Nourishing At Home: Health-Related Social Needs Food Boxes Delivery Program is a pilot intervention study evaluating whether home delivery of medically tailored food boxes can reduce food insecurity and improve health outcomes among pediatric families including caregiver physical and mental health, child physical health, and overall family well-being.

Read the detailed description

Pediatric families will be enrolled in a 2-step process:

  1. Families must screen positive for food insecurity risk using the Hunger Vital Sign™ (HVS) during routine clinical visits at Boston Medical Center (BMC) as well as have a child with at least one health-need criteria;
  2. Families must screen positive for very low food insecurity risk using the 1-Item Very Low Food Security (VLFS) screen.

Eligible families living within a 20-mile radius of BMC and with a safe delivery location will first receive standard of care for six months then they will be assigned to receive one home-delivered food box per month for six months containing staple foods and fresh produce, in a stepped wedge design.

The study will examine whether home food delivery reduces food insecurity severity and improves caregiver physical and mental health, child physical health, and overall family well-being. Outcomes expected include food security status change, decrease in caregiver anxiety and depression positive screens, increase in quality of life as well as decrease adult and child healthcare utilization. By addressing both financial and physical barriers to food access, this research will evaluate whether healthcare-based nutrition interventions can meaningfully improve health and social outcomes for food-insecure pediatric families while potentially reducing avoidable healthcare utilization.

02

Conditions studied

  • Food Insecurity

Keywords

  • Health-related social needs (HRSNs)
  • Very low food security
  • Healthcare utilization
  • Food home delivery
  • Food access
  • Caregiver anxiety
  • Caregiver depression
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Boston Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 323 studies on the registry; 33 are open to participants now.

Of its 34 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 28 (82%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • Participant has a child younger than 18 years seen by the Boston Medical Center Pediatrics Department and the child has a qualifying Health condition [listed below]
  • Screens positive for food insecurity risk (Hunger Vital Sign + 1-Item VLFS) and/or has received food support (billing code on the electronic health record for food need using a positive response to the THRIVE question "Do you need support with food? [apply for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infants and Children (WIC), referral to food pantry]" (ICD-10 Z-59.48)), and/or has received a food insecurity resource guide and/or has received food emergency (referral to the BMC food pantry within seven days of encounter).
  • Child of participant has a health-related condition such as: a behavioral health need (anxiety, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), depression, serious emotional disturbance, serious mental illness, substance use disorder, trauma/stress disorder), complex physical health condition ( conditions, developmental disabilities, GI conditions, hematological conditions, metabolic conditions, and neurologic conditions), needs assistance with self-care tasks or more complex tasks, has repeated Emergency Department (ED) use (2 or more times in past 6 months or 4 or more times in the past 12 months).
  • Participant speaks English and/or Spanish

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • High-risk adolescent pregnancy
  • Postpartum \<2 months
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Health services research
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
50 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Standard of care control group

    All participants will initially be assigned to this group for 6 months and will receive standard of care.

    Other: Standard of care

  • Experimental
    Food home delivery intervention group

    After the 6 months of standard of care all participants assigned to this group will receive in their homes one box of food per month for six months, containing food staples and fresh produce.

    Other: Monthly food staples and fresh produce

Interventions

  • OtherMonthly food staples and fresh produce

    1 bag of rice, 1 bag of dried beans, 1 can of beans, 1 box of pasta, 1 can of pasta sauce, 2 cans of soup, 2 cans of vegetables, 1 box of cereal, 1 box of milk, 2 cans of tuna, fresh fruits and vegetables.

  • OtherStandard of care

    A referral to the Boston Medical Center Food Pantry, where patients can collect food bags for themselves and their families twice a month. Pediatric families will also receive a food resource guide.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Level of Food insecurity in the past 12 months

    Food insecurity will be measured using the 18-item Household Food Security Survey Module (HFSSM) with a 12-month recall period, which classifies the households as high, low, or very low food security. It also classifies children's experiences with food insecurity. And again, in monthly surveys with a recall period of 30 days.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Caregiver depression

    Depression will be assessed with The Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ2). It is a 2 item instrument with a 2-week recall period and potential responses from 0 to 3 for each item, where 0= not at all, and 3= nearly every day. PHQ-2 scores range from 0 to 6, and a positive depression screen is a score of 3 or higher.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

  2. Caregiver anxiety

    Anxiety will be assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder two-item (GAD-2) scale for anxiety. It is a 2 item instrument with a 2-week recall period and potential responses from 0 to 3 for each item, where 0= not at all, and 3= nearly every day. GAD-2 scores range from 0 to 6, and a positive anxiety screen is a score of 3 or higher.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

  3. Quality of overall general health

    Quality of general health will be assessed using responses from the first question of the 4-question Population Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL-4) which is designed to assess self-perceived recent health over the past 30 days. four key domains-general health, physical health, mental health, and activity limitations. The potential responses of (Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor) will be dichotomized into two categories of "excellent/very good/good" and "fair/poor".

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, monthly

  4. Quality of physical health

    Quality of physical health will be assessed using responses from the second question of the 4-question Population Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL-4). Thinking about your physical health, which includes physical illness and injury, how many days during the past 30 days was your physical health not good? Responses will be dichotomized into 14 days or more and 13 days or less. The category of 14 days or more suggests that they are having frequent physical distress.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months, monthly

  5. Quality of mental health

    Quality of mental health will be assessed using responses from the third question of the 4-question Population Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL-4). Thinking about your mental health, which includes stress, depression, and problems with emotions, how many days during the past 30 days was your mental health not good? Responses will be dichotomized into 14 days or more and 13 days or less. The category of 14 days or more suggests that they are having frequent mental distress.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

  6. Quality of daily activities

    Quality of daily activities will be assessed using responses from the third question of the 4-question Population Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL-4). During the past 30 days, approximately how many days did poor physical or mental health keep you from doing your usual activities, such as self-care, work, or recreation? Responses will be dichotomized into 14 days or more and 13 days or less. The category of 14 days or more suggests that they are having frequent activity limitations.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

  7. Number of emergency room visits

    Emergency room visits will be measured by asking participants, 'How many times was the adult/child a patient in the emergency room during the past 12 months?' And again, in monthly surveys with a recall period of 30 days.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

  8. Number of hospitalizations

    Hospitalizations will be measured by asking participants 'How many different times did this adult/child stay in a hospital overnight or longer during the past 12 months? (Do not count total number of nights, just total number of hospital admissions for stays which lasted 1 or more nights. Do not count emergency room visits or hospitalizations for childbirth.)' And again, in monthly surveys with a recall period of 30 days.

    Time frame: Baseline, 6 months, 12 months

07

Study locations

1 site
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedDate before it movedWhere the date was before it moved

Start is estimated for Jan 2027; primary completion for Sep 2028, 20 months later.

Start moved once since we started tracking on Sep 25, 2026: Oct 2026 → Jan 2027, on Oct 30, 2026.

Earlier changes are on the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jun 8, 2026
First posted
Jun 12, 2026
StartEst.
Jan 2027was Oct 2026
Primary completionEst.
Sep 2028
CompletionEst.
Sep 2028
Last update
Oct 30, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
Start date
Oct 2026→Jan 2027
Oct 30, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Oct 30, 2026
    Start date Oct 2026→Jan 2027
    + 1 other change: verification date

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07643909
Collaborators
Wagner Foundation
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jun 12, 2026
Start date
Jan 2027 (estimated)
Primary completion
Sep 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 30, 2026

Study contacts

Ana Poblacion, PhD, MSc
Contact
Ana.Poblacion@bmc.org
617-414-6366
Ana Poblacion, PhD, MSc
principal investigator · Boston Medical Center, Pediatrics

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Oct 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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