Towards effective food security interventions for HIV+ individuals: Impact of home delivered meals

Nutrition interventions are increasingly recognized as pivotal to vulnerable HIV positive (+) patients. Objective To determine whether HIV+ individuals receiving home delivered meals have different rates of viral suppression when compared to HIV+ individuals who are not receiving home delivered meals. Methods Two chart reviews were conducted, comparing rate of viral suppression among HIV+ participants in Caring Cuisine (CC), a home delivered meals program, with HIV+ case management clients who did not receive home delivered meals. The first was a cross‐sectional study of current clients (n=164). The second was a five year retrospective matched case‐control study of clients with multiple measures of viral load at different time points with respect to initiation of CC participation (n=45 CC participants; n=90 for non‐CC participants). Results Cross‐sectionally, CC clients had higher rates of viral load suppression (58.5% vs. 38.5%, p=<0.01) despite being older (p <0 .01) and with lower annual incomes (p<0.05). After six months of receiving home delivered meals, CC participants were more likely to have viral load suppression (OR=2.11; p=0.038) than matched non‐participants. Conclusion Home delivered meals may be an effective ancillary treatment for vulnerable HIV+ patients. Further research is needed to determine efficacy and effectiveness of this approach. Research Support: Yale School of Medicine