What is the issue for NSW?
Food insecurity describes whether individuals can access food in sufficient quantity and of sufficient quality to live an active and healthy life (Bowden, 2020a,p.3). Food insecurity is a multi-pronged issue that inequitably impacts Aboriginal populations (22-33%) compared to non-Aboriginal populations (4-13%). Urgent action is needed to address this and to help close the gap in health outcomes for Aboriginal people.
Food insecurity often occurs with material hardship and inadequate financial resources (Bowden, 2020b) and, for Aboriginal people, occurs alongside inequities in the availability and accessibility of affordable healthy food, along with stigma, racism and generational loss of healthy food knowledge (Davies A et al.,2022). Food insecurity impacts the immediate physical, mental and social health of adults and children, yielding lifelong impacts to overall health and wellbeing, educational attainment, productivity, and quality of life. The impacts worsen with increasing food insecurity (Bowden, 2020b). Multi-level, collaborative approaches including health, education, lived experience and community leadership are required.
What does the research aim to do and how?
This study will conduct a hybrid type 2 implementation trial of a co-designed school and community support program to address food insecurity among Aboriginal families. Utilising culturally appropriate mixed methods and community-based participatory research approaches, the study will:
- adapt and tailor a pilot program for relevance in other communities in the Central Coast and Mid-North Coast areas
- test the effectiveness of the program in shifting food insecurity among Aboriginal families (primary outcome) and in enhancing food nutrition literacy (secondary outcomes), and
- determine the barriers and enablers for scale up at other sites.