Improving Maternal Health and Birth Outcomes Through FreshRx: A Food-Is-Medicine Intervention.

Purpose: Food insecurity has far-reaching consequences for health and well-being, especially during pregnancy and postpartum periods. This study examines a food-is-medicine approach that aimed to reduce food insecurity, maternal stress, depression, anxiety, preterm labor, and low birthweight.

Design: Pre-post interventional study of FreshRx: Nourishing Healthy Starts, a pregnancy focused food-is-medicine program led by a local hunger relief organization and obstetrics department.

Increased experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic, emotional distress and changes in perceived physical and mental health: A structural equation model.

Aim: To explore how experiences of increased loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic affected emotional distress and changes in perceptions of physical and mental health.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: Data from the Socio-Economic Impacts of Covid-19 Survey, a national survey administered to 5033 adults in August and September 2020 in the United States, was utilized in this study.

How Did Reskilling During the COVID-19 Pandemic Relate to Entrepreneurship and Optimism? Barriers, Opportunities, and Implications for Equity.

With shorter durations and fewer barriers to entry, reskilling programs may serve as vehicles for social mobility and equity, as well as tools for creating a more adaptive workforce and inclusive economy. Nevertheless, much of the limited large-scale research on these types of programs was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, given the social and economic disruptions spurred by the pandemic, our ability to understand the impact of these types of programs in recent labor market conditions is limited.

Connecting the Dots between Barriers to W.I.C. Access and Adult and Child Food Insecurity: A Survey of Missouri Residents.

Previous research has explored the impact of W.I.C.

Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Housing Instability During the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Role of Assets and Income Shocks.

Stable and adequate housing is critical to sound public health responses in the midst of a pandemic. This study explores the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on housing-related hardships across racial/ethnic groups in the USA as well as the extent to which these disparities are mediated by households' broader economic circumstances, which we operationalized in terms of prepandemic liquid assets and pandemic-related income losses. Using a longitudinal national survey with more than 23,000 responses, we found that Black and Hispanic respondents were more vulnerable to housing-related hardships during the pandemic than white respondents.

Predictors of and barriers to receipt of advance premium tax credits.

Objectives: The Advance Premium Tax Credit (APTC) is designed to remedy lack of health insurance due to cost; however, approximately 30 million Americans remain without health insurance and millions of households leave billions in tax credits unclaimed each year. A prerequisite of APTC is to file one's taxes; however, few studies have examined tax filing and APTC jointly. This study examined the relationship between tax filing and applying for APTC, as well as perceived barriers to and sociodemographic characteristics associated with applying for the APTC.

Coping with COVID-19: Differences in hope, resilience, and mental well-being across U.S. racial groups.

Objectives: To explore if the COVID-19 pandemic revealed differences across racial groups in coping, resilience, and optimism, all of which have implications for health and mental well-being.

Methods: We collect data obtained from four rounds of a national sample of 5,000 US survey respondents in each round from April 2020 to February 2021. Using logistic regression and fixed effects models, we estimate the pandemic impacts on COVID-19 related concerns, social distancing behaviors, and mental health/life satisfaction and optimism for racial/income groups.

At Home and on the Brink: U.S. Parents' Mental Health during COVID-19.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic required significant changes and adaptations for most Americans, parents faced acute challenges as they had to navigate rapidly changing schooling and child care policies requiring their children to spend more time at home. This study examines the effects of COVID-19 school and workplace policies as well as environmental and economic characteristics on parental mental health, worry, hopelessness, and anxiety. Using data from four waves of the Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey and regression analysis, we explore associations between parents' mental health, worry, hopelessness, and anxiety and school learning environment, child grade and learning disability, employment characteristics, and sociodemographic factors.

Household Spending Patterns and Hardships during COVID-19: A Comparative Study of the U.S. and Israel.

Unlabelled: The combined supply and demand shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic have created the largest consumer behavior shift in recent history, while exposing millions of households to material hardships like food insecurity and housing instability. In this study, we draw on national surveys conducted early in the pandemic to investigate the pandemic's effects on self-reported consumer spending behaviors and experiences of hardship for households in the US and Israel; two countries that are similar in terms of their development but have had divergent experiences with and responses to the pandemic. We also examine the extent to which racial/ethnic/religious minority status and pre-pandemic employment characteristics predict these outcomes.

How Did School Meal Access Change during the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Analysis of a Large Metropolitan Area.

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) resulted in school closures and contingencies across the U.S. that limited access to school meals for students.

Financial Shocks and Financial Well-Being: What Builds Resiliency in Lower-Income Households?

Households in the U.S. regularly experience unexpected negative income or expense shocks, and low- and moderate-income households experience these shocks at disproportionately high rates.