Open Collections

Sim, Jenna Ann Phillips

University of British Columbia

People experiencing food insecurity are two times more likely to have type 2 diabetes (T2D) than individuals who are food secure. Diabetes prevention program (DPPs) have been effective at helping individuals reduce risk of T2D but have struggled to reach individuals experiencing food insecurity. There is a need to understand the experience of being at high risk for T2D while living with food insecurity so that appropriate T2D prevention services can be developed for this population. This study aimed to a) learn what factors influenced people with food insecurity’s interest and ability to know T2D risk and engage in T2D preventative behaviours and b) what factors influenced the Central Okanagan Food Bank’s (COFB) interest and ability in delivering T2D prevention services. Six COFB users participated in focus groups to learn what factors influenced engagement in T2D preventative behaviours. Five COFB employees participated in semi-structured interviews to learn what influenced the COFB’s ability to provide T2D prevention services to their users. The focus groups and interviews were analyzed inductively using reflexive thematic analysis and then deductively coded as barriers or facilitators and then to the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Inductive analysis of the focus groups resulted in the construction of three themes: Using the food bank: pulled in two directions, knowledge is both opportunity and responsibility, and competing priorities. Two themes were constructed from the interviews with COFB staff: A dream: the desire to help in all aspects of wellbeing, and the reality: under pressure. The most frequently TDF domain in barriers for both the focus group and the interviews was environmental context and resources, coded 46 and 36 times, respectively. People experiencing food insecurity know and want to engage in T2D preventative behaviours and that food bank employees want to offer T2D prevention services, but both groups lack the resources to do so. The findings from this study can offer insights for how DPPs can be designed or adapted to meet the needs of people experiencing food insecurity, and how food banks can be supported to offer T2D prevention services.

Text

2024-01-23

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/87336

Health and Exercise Sciences

University of British Columbia

UBCO

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/