Identifying Opportunities to Advance Health and Wellness Equity for Westonka Food Shelf Patrons

Data indicates chronic health conditions for adults facing low food security is approximately 18% higher than in food secure households (Gregory & Coleman-Jensen, 2017). This significant health disparity prompted the driving project questions of “How can we assess patron interest in gaining greater access to health and wellness promotion programming?” As well as, “What wellness resources, beyond nutrition, exist that can be applied to a community food shelf, to help better support patron wellness literacy?”

This capstone data gathered serves as a starting point for the much bigger project of improving patron health equity. Recommendations include continuing newly initiated community partnerships and conducting a focus group to more deeply understand patron literacy, wellness needs, and desires. Capstone included a detailed Health Equity Project Plan, which includes activities to achieve desired goals, outcomes and an evaluation plan to measure results.