This is a cluster randomized controlled trial of 30 food pantries affiliated with the Greater Boston Food Bank to test the use of behavioral economics (BE) tools to encourage food pantries to implement the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) program, with the goal of fostering accurate use of SWAP traffic light labels on pantry shelves and increasing the healthfulness of foods chosen by pantry clients. Primary outcomes will be assessed at 6 and 12 months to compare the implementation and effectiveness of the SWAP program in the intervention vs. control pantries.
This study will test the use of behavioral economics (BE) tools to encourage food pantries to implement the Supporting Wellness at Pantries (SWAP) program, with the goal of encouraging pantries to use SWAP traffic light labels on pantry shelves and increase the healthfulness of foods chosen by pantry clients. The study design is a 12-month cluster RCT of 30 Greater Boston Food Bank partner pantries comparing a basic SWAP implementation strategy (control, n=15) with a BE-enhanced SWAP implementation strategy (intervention, n=15). Primary outcomes assessed at 6 and 12 months will be implementation of the SWAP program within pantries and improvement of client food choices and dietary quality. At the end of 12 months, the BE-enhanced SWAP implementation strategy will be adapted, updated, and offered to the 15 pantries assigned to control (waitlist) at baseline. The 15 intervention pantries will be followed without further intervention.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
3,750
Intervention will include behavioral nudges at baseline and over 12 months to promote use of the SWAP nutrition program for pantries.
Intervention will include basic information about the SWAP program and encouragement to obtain SWAP toolkits.
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
RECRUITINGPantry SWAP implementation
Proportion of pantries in the intervention vs. control group that implement SWAP (e.g., traffic-light labels on shelves)
Time frame: 6 months and 12 months
Percent items (by weight) ordered by pantry that are labeled green or red
Using data collected from the food bank ordering platform, this outcome will be the proportions (by weight) of the overall orders from GBFB that are green-labeled and red-labeled according to SWAP ranking categories
Time frame: 6 months and 12 months
Percent of pantry clients' selected food that is green or red
Using pantry client basket assessments, the total proportion (by weight) of food selected by the client that is labeled green (or red) will be calculated for each participant
Time frame: 6 months and 12 months
Client dietary quality score
Rapid Prime Dietary Quality Score (range 0 to 52, higher is healthier) collected at the time clients are leaving the pantry
Time frame: 6 months and 12 months
Skin carotenoid level
Measured using the Veggie Meter scale at the time clients leave the pantry; range is 0 to 800 units, with higher scores indicating higher carotenoid levels (and therefore higher fruit and vegetable intake)
Time frame: 6 months and 12 months
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