Developing a Support Application for Food Pantries (SAFPAS) to Improve Client Access to Healthy Foods & Enhance Emergency Preparedness

Conditions

• Improving Healthy Food Access in Food Insecurity Populations in Normal and Emergency Situations

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

18 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Accepted

Interventions

• Support Application for Food PAntrieS (SAFPAS) - A mobile app that helps food pantries recruit, train and schedule volunteers, offer choice safely, and provides multilevel communications — BEHAVIORAL
  The primary intervention is a mobile application (app) which supports food pantries to recruit, train and schedule volunteers; provide a safe, remote form of client choice; and provides a means of sharing real-time status information with clients, pantries, food banks, and emergency operation centers. Following formative work, user centered design, and usability testing, the SAFPAS app will be implemented in three stages, where each stage introduces new features. Pantry clients will be encouraged to download the app and learn its key features at the end of baseline data collection. During the first weeks of each stage, training of participating food pantry directors/staff and Maryland Food Bank (MFB) staff will take place - focusing on use of any new features. Initial training will be follow up by proficiency testing.

Study Details

Food pantries face many challenges, including recruitment and training of staff/volunteers, communications with staff/volunteers and clients, providing client choice, and emergency preparedness. The investigators will develop, implement, and evaluate the Support Application for Food Pantries (SAFPAS), a mobile application to address these concerns under normal and emergency operations, and assess its impact on 20 Baltimore food pantries, and on the healthiness of foods received by 360 food pantry clients using a randomized controlled trial design. If successful, the tested and refined app will support local food assistance programs throughout the United States.

Key Dates

Start date

Jun 14, 2023

Status verified

Dec 2025

Primary completion

Nov 30, 2026

Completion

Nov 30, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment

537 participants (estimated)

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

PREVENTION

Arms

• Experimental: Food Pantries receiving SAFPAS intervention
  Food Pantries in this arm will receive access to all functions of the SAFPAS application
• No Intervention: Food Pantries not receiving SAFPAS intervention
  Food Pantries in the arm will not receive access to the SAFPAS application

Primary Outcome Measure

Change in Client FAST Scores as assessed by the Food Assessment Scoring Tool (FAST) [ Time Frame: 1 hour, 14 months ]

Central Contacts

• Cara Shipley, BS
  (410)502-6961
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in Baltimore, MD