Medicaid ACO food and housing support for adults with diabetes
LiveWell 2: Assessment of a Medicaid ACO program to address food and housing insecurity
This project compares Medicaid enrollees who got extra food and housing help with similar enrollees who did not to learn whether those supports improve food security, stress, diet, health, and health care use.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Massachusetts General Hospital NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11126707 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be part of an effort focused on MassHealth's Flexible Services (Flex) program that provided food and housing help to Medicaid enrollees. The team uses a natural experiment design, comparing people who received Flex services to similar enrollees who did not, and links Medicaid/ACO administrative data with participant surveys and interviews. Researchers examine food security, stress, diet, chronic disease outcomes like diabetes and blood pressure, health care use, and spending while accounting for implementation challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Early survey and interview results suggest many recipients experienced better food security, lower stress, improved diet, and better health, and this work will expand that evaluation through 2029.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults enrolled in Massachusetts Medicaid (MassHealth), especially those with diabetes or who are facing food or housing insecurity, would be the ideal participants for this work.
Not a fit: People who live outside Massachusetts, are not enrolled in Medicaid, or do not face food or housing needs are unlikely to be included or to directly benefit from this program evaluation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could show that providing food and housing support through Medicaid improves nutrition, reduces stress, helps control chronic conditions like diabetes, and lowers unnecessary health care use.
How similar studies have performed: Preliminary pilot data and early qualitative findings suggest improvements in food security, stress, diet, and health, but robust, large-scale evidence on effects on health care use and spending is still limited.
Where this research is happening
Boston, United States
- Massachusetts General Hospital — Boston, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Thorndike, Anne N — Massachusetts General Hospital
- Study coordinator: Thorndike, Anne N
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.