An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access and Security in Bexar County: A Mixed Methods Approach
Objectives: To investigate the effect of COVID-19 on food access and security in Bexar County, located within San Antonio, TX. Methods: To assess food insecurity levels and severity, we distributed a 10-min Qualtrics survey to San Antonio Food Bank (SAFB) clients. The survey was distributed between...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Primary Care & Community Health |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/21501319221147253 |
| _version_ | 1797956794678509568 |
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| author | Olivia Chen Corina Badillo Dirk Wristers Fozia Ali |
| author_facet | Olivia Chen Corina Badillo Dirk Wristers Fozia Ali |
| author_sort | Olivia Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objectives: To investigate the effect of COVID-19 on food access and security in Bexar County, located within San Antonio, TX. Methods: To assess food insecurity levels and severity, we distributed a 10-min Qualtrics survey to San Antonio Food Bank (SAFB) clients. The survey was distributed between 19 October 2020 and 24 May 2021. Twenty-four survey respondents also participated in virtual focus group sessions over Zoom. Seven virtual focus group interviews were held between 15 January 2021 and 5 March 2021. Results: Survey results revealed that following COVID-19, 20.2% of SAFB clients were newly food insecure. 31.3% of survey respondents reported reduced wages and 28.8% reported job loss. Households experiencing job disruption from COVID-19 were 7 times at greater odds of being food insecure (OR 7.05; 95% CI, 1.61-30.88), as compared to those with stable employment. Major subthemes across focus group interviews included “excessive amounts of a single food item distributed,” “long wait times for food,” and “not receiving the type of food needed.” Conclusions: Our study found evidence to support early studies’ findings that COVID-19 has negatively impacted food security for many Americans. 70% of all unique Bexar County zip codes appeared in our survey analysis. Even beyond COVID-19′s effect on food security, many other major societal changes were identified such as the increased reliance on technology, decreased in-person social gatherings, and greater mental health needs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:55:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4042a9aebde1458985f4054c3e78d95e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2150-1327 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T23:55:28Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Primary Care & Community Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-4042a9aebde1458985f4054c3e78d95e2023-01-10T14:05:09ZengSAGE PublishingJournal of Primary Care & Community Health2150-13272023-01-011410.1177/21501319221147253An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access and Security in Bexar County: A Mixed Methods ApproachOlivia Chen0Corina Badillo1Dirk Wristers2Fozia Ali3UT Health Science Center at San Antonio Long School of Medicine, TX, USAUT Health Science Center at San Antonio Long School of Medicine, TX, USAUT Health Science Center at San Antonio Long School of Medicine, TX, USAUT Health Science Center at San Antonio Department of Family Medicine & Community Medicine, TX, USAObjectives: To investigate the effect of COVID-19 on food access and security in Bexar County, located within San Antonio, TX. Methods: To assess food insecurity levels and severity, we distributed a 10-min Qualtrics survey to San Antonio Food Bank (SAFB) clients. The survey was distributed between 19 October 2020 and 24 May 2021. Twenty-four survey respondents also participated in virtual focus group sessions over Zoom. Seven virtual focus group interviews were held between 15 January 2021 and 5 March 2021. Results: Survey results revealed that following COVID-19, 20.2% of SAFB clients were newly food insecure. 31.3% of survey respondents reported reduced wages and 28.8% reported job loss. Households experiencing job disruption from COVID-19 were 7 times at greater odds of being food insecure (OR 7.05; 95% CI, 1.61-30.88), as compared to those with stable employment. Major subthemes across focus group interviews included “excessive amounts of a single food item distributed,” “long wait times for food,” and “not receiving the type of food needed.” Conclusions: Our study found evidence to support early studies’ findings that COVID-19 has negatively impacted food security for many Americans. 70% of all unique Bexar County zip codes appeared in our survey analysis. Even beyond COVID-19′s effect on food security, many other major societal changes were identified such as the increased reliance on technology, decreased in-person social gatherings, and greater mental health needs.https://doi.org/10.1177/21501319221147253 |
| spellingShingle | Olivia Chen Corina Badillo Dirk Wristers Fozia Ali An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access and Security in Bexar County: A Mixed Methods Approach Journal of Primary Care & Community Health |
| title | An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access and Security in Bexar County: A Mixed Methods Approach |
| title_full | An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access and Security in Bexar County: A Mixed Methods Approach |
| title_fullStr | An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access and Security in Bexar County: A Mixed Methods Approach |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access and Security in Bexar County: A Mixed Methods Approach |
| title_short | An Investigation of the Impact of COVID-19 on Food Access and Security in Bexar County: A Mixed Methods Approach |
| title_sort | investigation of the impact of covid 19 on food access and security in bexar county a mixed methods approach |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/21501319221147253 |
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