TAMPA, Fla., March 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort
to help Tampa Bay's most
vulnerable populations live better, healthier lives, WellCare
Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) announced today it is partnering
with the University of South Florida
(USF) and Feeding Tampa Bay to better understand how those with
limited resources facing food insecurity make decisions about their
health and health care.
"Many people don't understand the scope of hunger and the fact
that food insecurity is an ever-present, ongoing crisis in our
community," said Thomas Mantz,
executive director of Feeding Tampa Bay. "Florida ranks fourth in the nation for family
hunger, and in Tampa Bay, more
than 700,000 people and 250,000 children are 'food insecure,'
meaning they don't have stable and consistent access to food."
To combat this issue, WellCare and Feeding Tampa Bay, the
community's largest food rescue and distribution organization,
launched a one-year mobile food pantry program to help those in
need across the Tampa Bay area
access food in both rural and urban locations.
To measure the impact of the mobile pantry program, WellCare and
Feeding Tampa Bay are partnering with USF to examine how food
insecurity impacts health care decisions among mobile pantry
participants. The one-year longitudinal study will use a
mixed-methods approach using quantitative and qualitative data
to:
- Measure levels of food insecurity of mobile food pantry users
who are eligible for Medicaid and Medicare;
- Examine the relationship between food insecurity and health
care decision-making among adult participants;
- Determine if participation in the mobile food pantry program is
associated with changes in food insecurity status and health care
decision-making through time.
"By partnering with WellCare and USF, we're adding to our
growing body of research to better understand the long-term effects
of food insecurity, so we can ultimately change it," adds
Mantz.
"While there are a variety of food assistance programs to
mitigate food insecurity in Tampa
Bay, including food pantries and mobile pantry programs,
very few have been evaluated to see if they work and how they might
be improved," said Dr. David
Himmelgreen, professor and chair of the department of
anthropology at USF. "We're excited to work with Feeding Tampa Bay
and WellCare to provide research that makes a meaningful difference
in our community."
"At WellCare, we understand that helping our members on their
journeys to better health can often mean assisting them with the
socio-economic challenges they face in life," said Rhonda Mims, WellCare's senior vice president
and chief public affairs officer. "People cannot prioritize their
health if they have more pressing unmet needs. We are deeply
committed to helping food-insecure children and families in
Tampa Bay, and we look forward to
sharing research results that can help improve efforts to address
this important issue."
The study, which runs through June
2017, will inform future research as well as the Hunger
Action Alliance, a strategic partnership designed to find solutions
to the complex problem of food insecurity. Study outcomes and
results are expected to be released in fall 2017.
About WellCare Health Plans, Inc.
Headquartered in Tampa, Fla.,
WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (NYSE: WCG) focuses exclusively on
providing government-sponsored managed care services, primarily
through Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug
Plans, to families, children, seniors and individuals with complex
medical needs. WellCare serves approximately 3.9 million
members nationwide as of Dec. 31,
2016. For more information about WellCare, please visit the
company's website at www.wellcare.com or view the company's videos
at https://www.youtube.com/user/WellCareHealthPlan.
About the University of South
Florida
The University of South
Florida is a high-impact, global research university
dedicated to student success. USF is a Top 25 research university
among public institutions nationwide in total research
expenditures, according to the National Science Foundation. Serving
over 48,000 students, the USF System has an annual budget of
$1.6 billion and an annual economic
impact of $4.4 billion. USF is a
member of the American Athletic Conference.
About Feeding Tampa Bay
Founded in 1982, Feeding Tampa
Bay is the largest food rescue and distribution organization in the
community, serving a food-insecure population of more than 700,000
people in a 10-county area. Feeding Tampa
Bay recovers surplus food donations from local growers,
manufacturers, supermarkets, and organized community food drives
and distributes it to those in need through a partnership network
of more than 500 faith-based and other incorporated nonprofit
hunger relief organizations.
Over the past five years, Feeding Tampa Bay supplied more than
100 million pounds of food, enough to provide more than 3 million
meals every month to those who would otherwise go hungry. Feeding
Tampa Bay was honored as WEDU's Be
More 2014 Nonprofit of the Year.
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SOURCE WellCare Health Plans, Inc.