Investigating the Impact of Food Access on Heart Failure Outcomes

Medically tailored meals delivered after hospitalization for heart failure improved patient‑reported quality of life compared with dietary counseling alone, demonstrating a measurable, patient‑centered benefit in this high‑risk population.

The randomized trial enrolled 150 adults within two weeks of discharge and assigned participants to medically tailored meals plus dietitian counseling, fresh‑produce boxes plus counseling, or counseling alone, with 90‑day follow‑up.

Primary endpoints included Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire scores for quality of life and counts of hospital readmissions and emergency department visits; a subgroup analysis used conditional versus unconditional delivery to probe adherence. The randomized design and diverse enrollment strengthen internal validity, while the brief 90‑day window and limited event counts constrain power for utilization endpoints.

Patients receiving food deliveries reported higher quality of life on the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire versus counseling alone; produce recipients noted greater satisfaction than those receiving prepared meals. Conditional delivery tied to medication pickup was associated with larger gains, consistent with an adherence‑mediated effect on patient experience.

Clinically, these changes suggest meaningful reductions in symptom burden and improved daily function among recently discharged heart failure patients who receive combined food and counseling support.

No significant reduction in hospital readmissions or emergency department visits was observed despite the quality‑of‑life gains. Explanations include limited statistical power (32 events total), the short 90‑day follow‑up, and nonclinical drivers of readmission such as social determinants and baseline medication nonadherence.

Based on these findings, nutrition interventions may yield patient‑centered benefit first; but detecting utilization effects will likely require longer follow‑up or integrated, multi‑domain programs.

Key Takeaways:

• Adding food delivery (medically tailored meals or produce) to nutrition counseling produced clear, clinically relevant improvements in patient‑reported outcomes among recently hospitalized heart failure patients.
• The intervention primarily benefits recently discharged heart failure patients—especially those with food insecurity or variable medication adherence—who saw better symptom control and higher satisfaction.
• Clinical teams can consider nutrition support as a pragmatic adjunct to counseling to improve daily function; longer, adequately powered programs are needed to assess effects on readmissions and to guide integration into chronic care pathways.