Food-As-Medicine Trial In Heart Failure Reports Feasibility Gains

Key Takeaways:

• Investigators randomized recently hospitalized heart failure patients to medically tailored meals, fresh produce boxes, or usual care with dietary counseling alone.
• Results showed no significant short-term reduction in readmissions or emergency visits, but intervention participants were more likely to report meaningful health-status improvement.
• The trial observed high delivery completion and retention, with fresh produce boxes linked to stronger satisfaction and adherence than prepared meals.

The randomized study evaluated direct food support during recovery, a period when dietary barriers can complicate life after discharge. Researchers also observed better patient-reported health status among participants who received food support during follow-up. Short-term emergency visits and readmissions did not differ significantly across groups, pairing favorable patient experience measures with unchanged acute care use.

The study enrolled 150 patients after heart failure hospitalization at UT Southwestern’s William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital and Parkland Memorial Hospital. Participants were randomized to medically tailored meals, fresh produce boxes, or usual care that included dietary counseling alone. Medically tailored meals were developed with registered dietitian input, while produce boxes contained fruits, vegetables, and heart-healthy pantry items. Follow-up covered the 90-day post-discharge period, with assessments at four, eight, and 12 weeks, reflecting the vulnerable interval immediately after discharge.

Results showed no significant reduction in short-term readmissions or emergency department visits among participants assigned to food support. The authors reported that participants were more likely to experience clinically meaningful improvements in quality of life, as measured by the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire health-status scores. This patient-reported measure captured how participants described their health status during recovery from hospitalization. The pattern contrasted similar acute care utilization across groups with better reported health status.

The trial observed food delivery completion above 90% and participant retention above 95% during the study period. Authors noted that the produce box strategy included dietitian-provided recipes and heart-healthy pantry staples for home meal preparation. Participants receiving fresh produce boxes reported higher satisfaction than those receiving fully prepared meals. Adherence also favored the produce box approach over the medically tailored meal strategy. These implementation findings suggested that food delivery was workable within post-discharge care over the study period.

The authors said the high completion and retention rates demonstrate that structured food delivery programs can be integrated into post-discharge care for heart failure. The pilot also examined whether linking food support to clinic attendance and medication refills could shape recovery after hospitalization. Researchers said the experience helped define questions for larger, longer studies and future multicenter testing with continued focus on patient-centered outcomes.

The authors described the trial as groundwork for larger, longer-term studies evaluating whether food-based initiatives can improve clinical outcomes when delivered in real-world care settings. The study therefore stands as an early implementation-focused test of food support after discharge.