UH, NEOMED host think tank to combat food insecurity

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A proposed app to help Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients stretch their food stipend was the winning innovation at the third annual University Hospitals Healthcare Transformation Ideator.

The two-day think tank and solutions workshop, held recently at the MidTown Collaboration Center in Cleveland, brought together nearly 60 leaders from UH and NEOMED, a medical school in Rootstown, as well as caregivers, educators, community health experts and others to focus on the challenges associated with accessing adequate and nutritious food, UH said.

Teams had two days to develop ideas for combatting food insecurity, then pitched their ideas to a panel of judges made up of UH and NEOMED employees and students, investors and experts from Northeast Ohio.

“Food insecurity cannot be solved in two days, but if we can combine the right brainpower, perspectives, experts, institutions with some dedicated time, we’re confident we can conjure pathways or process considerations for real impact,” said David Sylvan, chief strategy, innovation & marketing officer at UH.

The first- and second-place teams each will receive $5,000 to develop their proposals under the management of UH Ventures. Funding came from a NEOMED/UH Ventures partnership, UH said.

UH Ventures develops innovations that originate within the hospital system and from other organizations.

The winning team, NutriSnap, proposed an app that could direct Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients to health navigators, affordable and nutritious food, and resources to help stretch their monthly food assistance.

The federal SNAP program provides food benefits to low-income families to supplement their grocery budget.

“The UH Ideator was an exciting whirlwind of creative thinking; it was intense and hard work, but lots of fun,” said Genevieve Birkby, a program manager of social needs navigation at UH Rainbow Ahuja Center for Women & Children’s Hospital. Birkby was on the winning NutriSnap team.

“We wanted to focus on something that really impacts the day-to-day reality of families living with food insecurity, so we focused on the biggest benefit program out there for food insecurity and what we could do to make it work better,” Birkby said.

Team GoWell won second place with its idea for a mobile health unit that would bring social services and wellness support directly to communities, while overcoming barriers like transportation and time.

Other teams’ ideas included after-school programs, community cooking classes and more, UH said.

Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.