Research Reports

This research report presents findings from a comprehensive study of hospital community benefit practices to promote healthy food access and healthy eating to address diet-related health conditions. The report identifies opportunities and challenges for greater community benefit investment in healthy food access. It also probes examples of hospital-community collaborations that not only promote healthy food access but also help build thriving communities, strong local economies, and sustainable food systems.

This report summarizes findings from a survey of a random sample of community benefit directors at not-for-profit, general medical and surgical hospitals throughout the United States. The survey investigates how hospitals organize community benefit activities and how they include food insecurity, healthy food access, and diet-related disease in their community health needs assessments and implementation strategies.