Department of Nutrition Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
Military Family Research Institute, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
J Public Health (Oxf). 2019 Dec 20;41(4):714-723. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdy203.
Rural, low-income US veterans face additional barriers to accessing food and resources compared to urban veterans. Based on both social-ecological and cultural competence approaches, the Reaching Rural Veterans (RRV) pilot intervention built on the existing infrastructure of food pantries to improve food security and connect rural, low-income veterans with resources. This article describes the process of implementing and evaluating RRV.
Five rural food pantries within each of two states, Indiana and Kentucky, received training in cultural competence and held monthly outreach events where food and services were offered to veterans. Veteran adult participants completed an assessment at baseline and 3-month follow-up that measured food security using the US Household Food Security Survey Module and self-reported resource enrollment. Repeated measures logistic regression models evaluated the odds of improving food security and resource enrollment from baseline to follow-up (significance P < 0.05).
RRV recruited 234 participants; 53% completed the follow-up assessment. At follow-up, the odds of household (P = 0.009) and adult (P = 0.01) food security increased, as did enrollment in one or more of the following resources: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Supplemental Security Income, General Assistance or Assistance from the Township Trustee (P = 0.005).
RRV yielded promising preliminary results of improved food security and resource use.
与城市退伍军人相比，美国农村低收入退伍军人在获得食物和资源方面面临更多障碍。基于社会生态学和文化能力方法，农村退伍军人援助计划（RRV）试点干预措施利用食品储藏室的现有基础设施，改善粮食安全状况，并为农村低收入退伍军人提供资源。本文介绍了实施和评估 RRV 的过程。
印第安纳州和肯塔基州的每个州内的五个农村食品储藏室接受了文化能力培训，并每月举办一次外联活动，向退伍军人提供食物和服务。成年退伍军人参与者在基线和 3 个月随访时完成了一项评估，该评估使用美国家庭粮食安全调查模块衡量粮食安全状况，并自我报告资源登记情况。重复测量逻辑回归模型评估了从基线到随访时粮食安全和资源登记情况改善的几率（显著性 P < 0.05）。
RRV 招募了 234 名参与者；53%完成了随访评估。在随访时，家庭（P = 0.009）和成年人（P = 0.01）粮食安全的几率增加，同时登记了一项或多项以下资源：贫困家庭临时援助、补充保障收入、一般援助或乡镇托管人援助（P = 0.005）。
RRV 取得了改善粮食安全和资源利用的初步结果。
