The Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University, in partnership with Kaiser Permanente, launched a new Food is Medicine Toolkit to provide clinicians and medical practitioners an evidence-based guide to improve health outcomes through nutrition interventions.
“If you care about health, nutrition has to be at the top of the list. Not top five, not top three, top of the list. Poor nutrition is the single leading cause of death and disability in the United States and around the world,” says Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian—Director of the Tufts University Food is Medicine Institute.
“We need to make sure that we’re implementing the right programs… built on the most promising evidence… so that they can be most effective. Because at the end of the day, what we want is improved health outcomes and lower cost of care,” asserts Pam Schwartz, Executive Director of Community Health at Kaiser Permanente. The Toolkit is designed to help practitioners and patients alike, featuring comprehensive modules and infographics based on the most relevant dietetic evidence.
The toolkit offers templates for structuring food is medicine (FIM) programs tailored to fit the needs of specific institutions and patient populations, recognizing that “there is no single best model.” These templates aim to assist care teams with community partnerships and the successful implementation of FIM interventions.
While coverage for healthcare-administered dietary intervention programs varies across states, the Toolkit represents a positive shift in how clinicians and patients understand the relationship between food and personal health.
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Photo courtesy of Eduardo Cano, Unsplash
