Together with Contra Costa Health Services, a safety-net county health system, and Project Open Hand, a non-profit organization with extensive experience providing nutrition services to low-income, chronically ill individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area, the investigators will conduct the Nutrition-Supported Diabetes Education Program (NU-DSMP) Pilot Study. The goal for this pragmatic, pilot randomized trial is to test the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary impact of providing 12 weeks of diabetes-healthy food support (i.e. medically tailored meals and groceries) supported by individualized case-management to low-income individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) participating in the evidence-based Diabetes Self- Management Program (DSMP), compared to DSMP participation alone.~The study will randomize 72 individuals 1:1 to intervention and control arms, following them at 0, 12 and 24 weeks with surveys and medical record review (with an interim brief 6 week assessment with the survey only), to understand the impact on diabetes health. Data from this pilot study will inform the planning of a full-size randomized trial to test the efficacy of the NU-DSMP model, with a long-term goal to inform policy debates about the value of implementing medically tailored food interventions as part of healthcare.
This is a pragmatic, pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the Nutrition-Supported Diabetes Education Program (NU-DSMP). This study will test the feasibility and preliminary impact of providing diabetes-tailored food support and individualized case-management on glycemic control and other intermediate outcomes including food security, diet, mental health, and health care behaviors, among Medicaid-enrolled patients with type 2 diabetes in a safety-net county health system.