About this trial
This study will evaluate a digital nudge intervention, Healthy Options At Pantries (HOAP), in the online food pantries of three large charitable food organizations. The study will use a hybrid effectiveness-implementation design, meaning it will evaluate whether the intervention works and how it can best be rolled out in an online food pantry setting. Intervention effectiveness will be evaluated using an interrupted time series analysis to identify changes in how healthy foods ordered by shoppers are (primary outcome) by comparing food ordering data over time before and after HOAP is introduced. The study will also evaluate the possibility of collecting dietary and clinical outcomes in a small subgroup of online pantry shoppers over time comparing both in-person and at-home approaches.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
Adults age 18 years or older
Speak English or Spanish
Access to a smartphone
Have ordered from the online food pantry at least half of the available times over the past 6 pantry eligible periods (for example, at least 3 times in the past 6 weeks for online food pantries that allow weekly ordering or at least 3 times in the past 6 months for online food pantries that allow monthly ordering), during the 6-month period prior to implementation of the HOAP program (i.e., months -6 to -1)
Disqualifiers
Weigh more than 300 pounds
Have a pacemaker, defibrillator, or other cardiac implant
Plan to move out of metro Chicago in the next 6 months
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Behavioral economics-based Healthy Options At Pantries (HOAP) digital nudge intervention
Treatment groups
Sponsors and collaborators
Northwestern University
Lead sponsor
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
Collaborator